Silver and Gold
by Ariana Deralte
Summary: The first intervillage chuunin exam is being held. For six year old Kakashi, it's an opportunity for him to prove himself. For the future Yondaime, it's a chance to prevent a war.
1. Chapter 1: Weird Eyebrows

Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me oddly enough.

A/N: Regarding Yondaime's name, I chose Kayaku because it's the latest fan speculation on his name and I'm all for keeping up with the trends;) I went with Uzumaki mostly because I knew if I chose another last name I'd never be able to remember it. I'm indifferent to whether or not the fourth is related to Naruto, but if it bothers you, please feel free to assume the third gave Naruto Yondaime's last name or something.

EDIT: Kayaku's name has now been changed to his canon name of Minato Namikaze. (My apologies if I missed changing it somewhere).

I can't make any promises about finishing this story. I have a lot of free time atm, so I'm writing a lot, but this could change quickly. This story is promising to be rather long, so I thought I'd warn in advance. In regards to reviewer responses, if you ask a question in a review that I don't think will be answered within the story, I'll answer it, but if not, you can assume you'll get your answer within the text:)

And finally, much thanks goes to my lovely beta, Kilerkki:)

* * *

'In a few years,' Namikaze Minato thought, 'it's going to be impossible to sneak up on him.' As it was, he enjoyed the small flinch he got from Kakashi when he appeared silently next to the six-year old. They were deeply hidden in the bushes, with a clear view to their usual meeting spot near the bridge.

"What are we doing?" he whispered.

Kakashi shot him an annoyed look. "He'll be here soon." He didn't say anything else, so Minato settled in to wait.

In many ways, Kakashi was a dream to teach. He was efficient and respectful on their missions and Minato never had to explain anything a second time while teaching him. Kakashi had taken to tree walking like he'd been doing it his whole life. Of course, Minato had his suspicions that he had. Sakumo didn't spend much time at home due to his missions, but when he was home, he was training his son. Minato had been amused by the idea of Kakashi teething on a kunai, until he had realized that the boy probably _had_.

The trouble with teaching a prodigy was that Kakashi was always trying to outpace himself. It was a not-so-secret fact that Kakashi wanted to beat the two strongest people in his life – his father and his teacher. He was years away from that goal, but that wasn't stopping him from running full tilt at it. Minato couldn't help but want the kid to slow down sometimes and enjoy his childhood, such as it was.

It wasn't like Kakashi was hopeless after all. He had at least one friend, Hamato Kai, though how the two managed to stay friends when they barely said two words to each other outside of missions was beyond him. Minato had hopes Kakashi would make friends his own age in a few years - once his peers learned there was more to life than fighting over who got the swings at the playground that is. Until then, Minato was content with the fact that he had gotten the small boy addicted to adventure novels.

He had presented the newly graduated genin with a novel soon after they started training. It was about a young stable hand who turned out to be the son of the king and had to fight many adversaries in order to win his father's approval. Minato had suggested Kakashi could learn more about the way the world worked from reading it, and so Kakashi had reluctantly taken the book home. The next morning, Minato had been very amused to receive a complete verbal analysis and report on the book from a very sleepy looking Kakashi.

Kakashi had eventually realized he didn't have to report reading them, but Minato knew he still did read. Reading wasn't the most social of activities, but at least he knew his student was doing something other than training.

"AHAH!" The loud yell pulled him out of his thoughts. He peered out at their meeting place to see that a pigtailed boy, about Kakashi's age, had appeared. The kid had a lime green blanket tied like a cape around his neck and the weirdest eyebrows Minato had ever seen. "Where are you my rival?" the boy yelled, looking around wildly.

Minato could feel Kakashi trying to sink into the ground with embarrassment beside him. "I assume he's looking for you?" he asked the boy.

Kakashi nodded. "He showed up last Thursday when you weren't here. I was reading a scroll, so I didn't notice him talking to me. Then he attacked, and I responded by instinct." Kakashi paused as they both watched the other boy look in and around the bridge and nearby trees. "A blow to the head can damage a person, can't it, sensei?"

"Yeah."

"Because when he woke up he was talking about how good I was, and that I was worthy to be his rival, and that he would return next week for a rematch."

"So you decided hiding was the best response to the situation?"

"I was ass-sessing the situation." Kakashi had recently discovered big words. It was a pity he couldn't always pronounce them.

"Are you going to fight him?"

Kakashi's reply was scathing. "He doesn't know _anything_."

Minato peered out at the other boy, who was accurately homing in on their location. That spoke of knowing something at least. "We can't hide here all day," he reminded Kakashi. His student's look had a hint of despair in it, but he obediently crept off to the side, intent on reaching the bridge again without being seen. Minato used a jutsu instead, and was therefore the first to greet the other boy. "Hey."

The pigtailed boy jumped and turned around. "You!" he yelled while pointing then stopped. "You aren't him."

"No. What's your name?"

"Gai."

"Kakashi-kun, I need you to-" he had almost said 'play', "train with Gai for a little while I track down his minders." And have a word with them about watching their charges a bit better. Konoha had just negotiated a cease fire with the other ninja villages, but it still wasn't safe to let the children roam the streets unattended.

"Hah! We can fight!" yelled Gai excitedly, then jumped in shock when he saw that Kakashi was standing right next to him.

Kakashi gave his sensei a mournful look, ignoring the other boy. "He'll only get hurt again, sensei."

That was true. While Gai looked like the type of kid who came home covered in cuts and bruises that he cheerfully showed off, Kakashi was not the type to go easy on someone just because they were less experienced. "Why don't you try hide and seek?" Minato suggested. "Stay within this field." He disappeared before Kakashi could protest again.

Vague memories of the nearest playground and the sound of children's voices drew him to the right place. An older, white-haired lady was sitting on a nearby bench. She was calmly sharing a cookie with a tiny, magenta-haired girl, while two genin ran everywhere trying to keep at least twenty-five children, from toddlers to seven-year olds from destroying the playground and each other. The genin had his sympathy. When he was a genin, it seemed like his team had always been assigned to babysit the younger children of the village. He had been scolded mercilessly that one time he had tied two of the brats together and left them in a tree. Minato grinned a little at the memory. That was the price you paid for kancho-ing Namikaze Minato.

"Excuse me, Obaasan?"

"Hmm?" One of her eyes had the milky color that indicated blindness, but she still looked up at him.

"Is it possible you lost one of your charges?" he asked.

She did a rapid survey of the playground. "Gai-chan," she sighed after a moment. "You've seen him?"

"I've got my student watching him. You should be more careful. It's not safe to let a child his age wander on his own." He felt awkward scolding a woman who probably remembered watching after him at some point.

"My apologies, Namikaze-sama. I usually have more genin to help me." She somehow managed to be both polite and accusing at the same time - as if it was his fault that the chuunin exams had just finished. There was often a shortage of genins during the exams and shortly afterwards, either from promotions, training, injuries, or deaths. Kakashi had done a lot more missions as a consequence, though Minato never took any babysitting missions. The absurdity of hiring a six-year old to watch another six-year old wasn't lost on him, even if that was what Kakashi was doing right now.

"I'll return him to you," he offered. He was curious to see if Kakashi was actually playing hide and seek.

"Thank you. We'll keep a better eye on him in the future." Her tone promised that her two genin helpers would get an earful.

He left the playground and approached the bridge with his usual stealth. Once there, he was pleased to see that both boys were deeply involved in a game. Kakashi had changed the rules of hide and seek. He had four different bunshin hidden around the field, and Gai was having a lot of fun finding each one. Once he found them, he tackled them with all his might, laughing as he ran through them and they disappeared. Each time a bunshin disappeared, another reappeared hidden elsewhere in the field. It was an impressive display of control and stamina on Kakashi's part. Minato was also pleased that Gai was actually finding the bunshin.

Jumping over the bridge railing, he landed next to where the real Kakashi was hiding. "I found his babysitters. They're not far from here." Kakashi was too focused on his bunshin and Gai to look up. "We can keep training with him for awhile, if you like."

"No," said Kakashi. "He'll make me find him again." Kakashi made it sound like a fate worse than death.

Minato eyed Gai's lime green cape. "That bad?"

"Yeah."

The last of the bunshin's disappeared. Gai was on the other side of the field, but he ran over to Minato and Kakashi once they came out of their hiding place. "I win!" He was jumping up and down, and pointing at Kakashi. "I found ten, no…" He trailed off and began counting on his fingers.

"Gai-kun." There was no response. Minato waited. "Gai-kun."

"I lost count!" the boy wailed.

Kakashi probably knew the correct number, but he didn't offer it. Minato sighed. "Does it matter? We all know you found more than Kakashi-kun."

That placated the boy. "I win!" He gave them a smile that would have been blinding if he hadn't been missing two of his front teeth. He pointed at Kakashi. "You have been defeated by me, the Great Gai!"

"Great? You're not − mmpfh"

Minato kept his hand over Kakashi's mouth until he was sure the boy was finished talking. He had a feeling that if it hadn't been for the mask, Kakashi would have bitten him.

"Well," he said with false cheer, "let's get back to the playground." They both followed him. Gai chattered happily about anything that was on his mind, while Kakashi sulked.

The white-haired Obaasan met them at the edge of the playground. Gai quieted immediately upon seeing her. She stared down at him, until he broke and bowed low in apology. "Sorry, baasan! I should never have left your loving care!"

Minato idly wondered who had taught Gai to talk so oddly.

"I'd be more convinced if you hadn't said the exact same thing last week," said the woman dryly. Gai looked crestfallen. Her tone changed abruptly. "If you leave again while I'm watching, your backside will be red until summer, got it?" Gai took a step back at her threat, and Minato wanted to join him. This woman was scary!

"Yes!" said Gai.

"Go play, and don't step a foot off this playground without my permission."

Gai nodded, and ran a few steps before coming back to Kakashi. "We will meet again, my rival!" he declared, then noticed Obaasan's glower. "But not until I'm out of the loving Obaasan's care!" He anxiously awaited her nod of approval, before running off into the throng. He headed over to the sandbox. His shout of, "Rin-chan! I will protect your castle!" was deafening.

"And you had the nerve to remind me about watching over the children," Obaasan muttered, just loud enough for him to hear while looking pointedly at Kakashi, who was staring blankly at the chaos that was the playground.

Minato bristled. Just because he wanted Kakashi to enjoy his childhood, didn't mean he wasn't certain of his student's skills as a ninja. Kakashi deserved to be where he was now. "You certainly have a way with children, Obaasan," he said, allowing a hint of menace to creep into his tone.

She gave him a sharp look with her remaining eye, then went back to her bench, muttering various imprecations about his lineage and abilities. He relaxed, having heard all those curses before. Tapping Kakashi on the shoulder, he headed off, hoping his student hadn't noticed he had almost picked a fight with a woman old enough to be his great-grandmother.

It was time for them to do some real training.

* * *

The next morning, Minato hurried to attend the mandatory jounin briefing that he had been informed of roughly five minutes before. The messenger had probably missed him when he slipped out to have a bowl of ramen for breakfast, but it was still annoying that he hadn't been informed.

The only one who noticed when he joined the crowd at the back of the meeting room was Tsunade-hime. She glared at him for being late, and he resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at her. A few years before, he might have done so, but now he gave her a brilliant smile that left her looking even more disgruntled. Reflecting that Jiraiya had really been a bad influence, he turned his attention to the meeting.

One of the senior jounin, Isamu, was reading out a concise report of the recent negotiations to extend the tentative truce the ninja villages were all operating under into a proper peace treaty. Minato could tell by looking at the faces around him that no one expected lasting peace. Shinobi tended to be realists, and a realist could see that there was too much tension in both the shinobi and civilian world for the war not to continue. It was therefore a bit of a surprise to hear that something had been agreed upon.

"…the proposal of the Raikage was taken under consideration. After much debate, it was decided that the suggestion of a joint-chuunin exam with public spectators would be beneficial to all."

"Beneficial to who?" asked an unidentified voice, which was something of a feat in a room full of jounin.

The Hokage coughed, and stood up, motioning with his pipe for Isamu to stand down. "No one can disagree that the number of missions ninja are receiving is dropping. In the outside world, many are unaware of our abilities. Some would say that this is how it should be. Our secrets keep us alive. But to the civilians, we are becoming legends and mysteries, and you don't hire mysteries to defend your palace or retrieve your lost property."

"Konoha is one of the largest ninja villages, and yet we are barely receiving enough missions to justify our existence. The other villages are in similar situations. It is likely there will be war again soon, so we must take advantage of the peace while we can. For that reason, I supported the idea of a public chuunin exam involving participants from all the villages. The final rounds will be held in a public arena where the young ninja of our new generation can demonstrate Konoha's skills to the great lords and merchants of all the countries."

"When and where will this exam be held?" asked Muzu. The hard-faced jounin had beaten the rest of them to the question.

Sandaime's expression gave nothing away, but Minato was sure he wasn't happy about something. "It will be held in two weeks time at the Hidden Rock village."

"Isn't the timing suspicious?" asked Orochimaru from the front of the room. Many nodded in agreement. Konoha has just held their own chuunin exams, after all.

"It is. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about the matter. All the other villages held their exams months ago. I was told that Konoha was simply… unlucky to have recently completed the exams. As for the location, Hidden Rock is the only village with a proper arena at this time."

"Why do they have an arena in the first place?" complained Emi from where she was slouching against the wall.

"That's unknown," said Sandaime. "But the arena was only built in the last few years." There was no need for him to state how suspicious that was. Sandaime took a deep breath and continued in a firm tone. "Konoha must participate in this exam and have students in the finals. We cannot afford to miss this opportunity. But," he surveyed the room, his eyes meeting Minato's, "it's likely this exam will be twice as dangerous as any held here at Konoha. All jounin teachers are free to nominate their students on an individual basis, including those who recently participated in the chuunin exam. You have a few moments to decide."

There was a deep silence. Minato tuned out the curious stares of those next to him to consider what he should do. He didn't have the same problem some of the other jounin teachers were facing. They were left debating which of their students who had just _failed_ could succeed in an exam that would be twice as hard, and where the other participants would be less likely to show the mercy that could occasionally be found from a fellow Konoha nin.

No. Minato didn't have that problem because his student hadn't participated in the exam. At the time, Minato had only briefly considered recommending Kakashi. He knew his student had the skills, and that Kakashi had wanted to take the exam, even if the boy would never ask. But he had selfishly decided against it. He knew they would be going to war again, and he had wanted to give Kakashi some more time before he had to fight on the front lines with the other chuunin. 'You've been enjoying the lower ranking missions too', he thought guiltily.

No one was going to question his decision to _not_ recommend a six-year old for the exam after all. He had thought that no one except maybe Sakumo had any idea how far Kakashi was progressing, but that look from Sandaime proved him wrong. It was his duty as a soldier of Konoha to recommend Kakashi, just as it was Kakashi's duty to accept. A small smile of pride graced his features. He knew Kakashi would get to the final part of the exam.

The room was still silent, but there was no sense in putting it off. He took a step forward and held his hand in front of him in the traditional sign. "I, Namikaze Minato, on the honor of the Namikaze clan, recommend Hatake Kakashi for the upcoming chuunin exam."


	2. Chapter 2: Playtime

A/N: Thanks to my beta, Kilerkki:)

I should probably mention that my fic, The Way is set in the same timeline as this fic (and covers Kakashi's academy graduation). You don't need to read it to enjoy this fic, but if you're curious about how Kakashi and Kai became friends, it's there. Other than that, one of the character's I've introduced in this chapter is actually an obscure canon character. Kudos to anyone who can identify him/her;)

* * *

Kakashi watched the children on the playground in front of him with a practical eye. He could see how several of their games could be useful for training. That big plastic dome with holes in it that they were running in and out of was a perfect area to place ambushes, and the sand on the ground could always be thrown in your opponent's eyes as a distraction.

A tap on his shoulder signaled that his sensei was ready to leave. Kakashi should probably have thanked the Obaasan for making Gai leave him alone, but it was too late now. He followed Minato-sensei as they headed deeper into the village proper. Hopefully, Sensei had a mission or more training planned, and not just a trip to the nearest ramen stand for a late lunch.

"Have you ever played on a playground, Kakashi-kun?" Sensei asked.

Kakashi thought about it. He could remember the past three years of his life in a detail that would have left most adults astonished, but his memories of before then were nearly non-existent.

"Not that I know of," he answered truthfully.

"Well, it's never too late."

Kakashi gave him a skeptical look. Minato-sensei was always serious on missions, but he could occasionally be a bit weird when it came to training or off duty activities. Kakashi watched him subtly and tried to figure out if this was one of those times.

Minato-sensei stopped in front of an old fence. The boards had warped so that the whole thing sagged to the left. "Over here," said Sensei before jumping to the top of the fence, then disappearing behind it. Kakashi gauged the height of the fence and opted to slip through at ground level using a loose board he had spotted.

"Ah. I guess you're more tired from making those bunshins than I thought," said Sensei, once Kakashi was through.

"No," Kakashi denied angrily. "I took the most ef-f-ficient path." He glared at his sensei, daring him to say anything about his mispronunciation.

Sensei held up his hands, palms out, as if to ward off his anger. "I was teasing you about the bunshins, Kakashi-kun. I know what you're capable of."

Kakashi looked around to cover his faint blush, certain that Sensei could see it despite the mask. How were you supposed to tell when someone was teasing you?

They were in an abandoned lot that smelt of old leaves and rotten wood. Trees and bushes grew all over, and there was random garbage scattered about. Beneath the debris were the remains of an old wooden playground. Wooden posts stood out all over, forming bridges and steps. There was a rusted metal slide, and a swing set where the seats had broken off. Other than that, the only thing of interest was the number of trees with strange spiral patterns etched into their trunks.

"This was a popular playground when I was younger," said Minato-sensei. "Later, I used it for training since everyone seems to have forgotten it's here."

"What kind of training?"

"The ridiculously difficult kind," said Sensei with a grin. He changed the subject. "Seeing that playground today reminded me. I thought we could use this place for a different type of training. Come on." He walked over and jumped onto one of the low wooden bridges. Kakashi climbed easily onto one of the pillars next to it. His pillar felt solid, but the bridge was creaking under his sensei's weight.

"If your feet touch the ground, I win. If my feet touch the ground, you win. Don't hold back." Minato-sensei struck an arrogant pose.

Kakashi grinned as he threw a kunai at the bridge, causing it to collapse under his startled sensei. He could get used to this type of playing.

* * *

The next morning found Kakashi waiting at their usual spot. Sensei was rarely late, but he always had a good reason when he was, so Kakashi waited patiently. He spent the time trying to get a splinter out of his hand that had lodged there during yesterday's training. He should have known better than to use such a decrepit looking board for his back flip, but it had been that or let his feet touch the ground. Most of the splinter's had been easy to pull out, but this one was lodged so firmly, Kakashi was considering using a kunai to dig it out.

An hour later, the splinter was still there and Kakashi's attention had wandered. Part of him wished he could have brought the book he was reading the night before. It was obvious that the villain was the hero's stepbrother, but he wanted to read more and see. Yet it was one thing to bring a scroll on ninjutsu to read. It was another to bring a book solely for recreation.

It was a bit longer before Minato-sensei arrived. He was smiling cheerfully, but that didn't tell Kakashi anything. Sensei was always smiling. Instead, he focused on the piece of paper he could see in his sensei's hand.

When Sensei handed him the paper, he didn't waste time asking what it was, since it was written across the top. "Inter-village Chuunin Exam Registration," he read out. He glanced at his sensei before scanning the rest of the page. It looked real, but who ever heard of an inter-village chuunin exam?

"I recommended you today. It's in two weeks at Hidden Stone."

"That's soon." And strange, since Konoha had just finished their own chuunin exams.

"Yes. All of the villages agreed to it as a sign of cooperation. The finals will be watched by the head lords and merchants of all the lands," Minato-sensei said in a neutral tone.

"So," said Kakashi slowly, "we're showing off?"

"Yes!" Minato-sensei beamed at him. "Missions as a whole have been down."

"Don't I need a team?"

"Six genin have been nominated. You and Kai-kun are the only ones who didn't participate in the last exam. It'll be the usual three man teams, and I made sure Kai-kun is on yours."

"Is he out of the hospital yet?" asked Kakashi. Kai hadn't been able to participate in the exams because he'd walked into a particularly nasty plant jutsu on a mission. The plant had tried to rip his legs apart, like a vine strangling a tree. By the time the jutsu stopped, Kai's legs had been a bloody mess of destroyed tissue and crushed bone. There had even been talk of amputation until Tsunade-sama had stepped in and worked one of her miracles, but even with that, he'd been confined to a hospital bed for the past month.

Minato-sensei gave him a stern look. "He got out yesterday. As his friend, you should have known that."

Kakashi shrugged. They were friends, true, but not close ones. He had visited the other boy in the hospital a few times and that should have been enough.

"Well, come on. We're meeting the rest of your team so you can get to know each other."

"Yes, Sensei."

They headed off towards one of the other training fields. Four genin and one jounin were waiting. Kakashi hung back, unconsciously using his sensei's body to block their view of him. Kai wasn't there yet, so one of the four would be his teammate.

There was a girl with bright orange hair. She looked to be about thirteen and had a thick bandage wrapped around her throat. Slouched next to her was a black-haired boy with a worried expression on his face. Standing off to the side was a thin girl with dark brown hair and eyes. She and the orange-haired girl kept exchanging glares whenever they thought their jounin sensei wasn't watching. The final genin was sitting on the ground. He looked older than everyone else, and was playing with a roll of wire.

The other jounin intercepted them before Kakashi and Minato-sensei could get closer. He was a short man with an eye patch and a smooth face. "Minato-san, I know I was supposed to give you Hideaki Yoshino, but I just found out she has skills that would make her invaluable to my team. Providing she and Ume-san don't kill each other." It was hard to tell if the jounin was joking. "You don't mind taking Shinamoto Masuyo, do you?"

"I don't, Saburou-san, but you should ask Kiku-san," said Sensei.

The other jounin's face turned pink at the mention of Kai's jounin sensei. "She should be back soon," muttered Saburou, then excused himself to find Kiku-san and Kai.

"Poor guy," mused Minato-sensei. "I've seen him face down an S-rank missing nin without blinking, but put him in front of a pretty woman he wants to ask out and he gets tongue-tied. Lucky I don't get that way, ne?"

"You say weird things, and they slap you," Kakashi reminded him.

"Not always!"

Kakashi shrugged. He was more interested in figuring out which of the genin was Masuyo-san.

"Masuyo-kun is the one sitting down," said Sensei, doing that annoying trick of reading his student's mind. "Why don't you introduce yourself while we wait for Kai-kun?"

Kakashi nodded and walked over to the young man. Masuyo had short, dirty-blond hair that peeked out from underneath the bandana style hitae'ate that he wore. His face, when he looked up, was narrow and tanned. Kakashi's eyes immediately went to the scar that started in the middle of the young man's cheek and curved up past his ear and into his hairline.

Belatedly, he remembered he was supposed to talk to the other genin. "I'm Hatake Kakashi."

Masuyo glanced down at his hands. They were adorned with plain metal rings. That, and the Shinamoto name reminded him of something. "You lost, or what?" Masuyo asked, taking his roll of nearly transparent wire and stringing it expertly between his hands. Now Kakashi knew what he had been trying to remember. The Shinamoto clan all fought with wires and used their jewelry to protect themselves from its razor sharpness during battle.

"What do you think?" retorted Kakashi.

"I think you should go back to sucking your mother's teats." Masuyo's smile was more a barring of the teeth.

Kakashi's foot was a blur. He kicked expertly, hitting a point on the older genin's ankle. Masuyo flinched from the pain, and looked in shock at Kakashi. "You little brat!"

"You were the one being rude."

"I can be rude to a brat like you. What are you, five?"

"Six," said Kakashi flatly.

"That makes me three times your age," said Masuyo triumphantly.

"And still a genin?" Kakashi couldn't keep the disgust from his voice.

"You-" Masuyo jumped up, spreading his arms wide so that the wire glinted in a web in front of him. Kakashi grabbed a few shuriken, planning to slice through the wires before they reached him. And then Sensei was standing between them.

"Ah, Masuyo-kun. I'm Namikaze Minato. I'll be your new jounin sensei for this exam. Pleased to meet you. Kakashi-kun here is your teammate." His voice became serious. "Do you know what that means?"

"That he'll die like everyone else?" said the teenager sarcastically. He straightened under Sensei's hard stare. "Not by my own hand though!"

"Good to know," said Sensei with a nod. "I'm sorry about your teammates, Masuyo-kun." Masuyo looked away, muttering something Kakashi couldn't hear.

Sensei turned to him. "Kakashi-kun, don't bait your teammate."

Kakashi looked down. Minato-sensei was always too fair. Masuyo had baited him first.

The sound of voices heralded the arrival of the two jounin and Kai. Kakashi sniffed the air. He could smell flowers, and that was exactly what Kiku-sensei held in her hands when they appeared. Kiku-sensei didn't seem to know what to do with them and was casting Saburou strange glances. For his part, the other jounin was turning red and was looking at anything but his companions.

Kai looked very happy to get away from them, and headed immediately towards Kakashi. The other boy's green and brown outfit stood out here on the grass, but in a forest it would allow him to disappear. Kai wore a number of pouches, bandolier style across his chest. They were one of the reasons Kakashi was pleased to have Kai on his team. Not only did Kai have above chuunin level stealth skills, but he also carried anything a ninja could possibly need in his pouches.

The eleven-year old looked pale from a month in the hospital, but his walk was steady. Hopefully, Kai's stamina hadn't suffered too much since they had little time to build it up.

"Now that my colleagues are here, gather around everyone!" said Minato-sensei, taking charge. Kakashi joined the rough line of genin after exchanging a nod of hello with Kai. Sensei conferred a moment with the other jounin, and Kiku-sensei disappeared after a brief wave goodbye to Kai. "All right. You will be on two teams for this exam with a jounin sensei each. My team will be Kakashi-kun, Kai-kun, and Masuyo-kun. The other team under Saburou-san will be Ume-san, Arata-kun, and Yoshino-san."

The orange-haired girl, Ume, looked ready to kill her sensei. "Can't we choose our own teams?" she asked, interrupting Minato-sensei.

"Don't make me regret those blades missing your voice box," threatened Saburou. Kakashi wondered if the jounin was joking or serious. Either way, the comment made Ume shut her mouth.

Sensei continued as if there had been no interruption. "We leave for the exam in ten days. You have until that time to get comfortable with your teams. Remember, this is not the usual exam. There will be no friendly nin other than your teammates to rely on. Working well together will keep you alive." He nodded to Saburou.

"Each team will now go off and get to know each other." Saburou sounded like he was reading an inventory list. "You have an hour to learn ten things about each of your teammates. These facts can be hobbies, birthdates, favorite foods, etcetera. Report back here and we will test your knowledge."

It sounded like a stupid idea to Kakashi, and he was pleased to see from their faces that the other genin agreed. There was no point in arguing though, so he followed Kai off to the side. Masuyo followed close behind him, invading his personal space.

It was going to be a long hour.

* * *

Later that evening, Kakashi was curled up on his bed, reading the last pages of his book. Dealing with Masuyo today had been tiring. The older boy hadn't said much beyond what was required, but he had "clumsily" gotten in Kakashi's way while they were doing some training exercises. Both of them didn't want to upset Minato-sensei, so it didn't go further than that, but Kakashi wondered what was going to happen during the exams when they were out from under sensei's watchful eye. Kakashi's only consolation was that Masuyo was highly competent with his wires. If it weren't for his attitude, Kakashi would have been happy to have the other boy on his team.

At least his father had been proud. He had hugged Kakashi when he came home, and promised to teach him something special for the exam. Kakashi was briefed on the ramifications of the exams and Hidden Rock's actions over dinner. The Hatake clan was always prepared.

Kakashi read through the paragraph in front of him again, his eyes catching on one of the words. It was time to go downstairs. He composed himself, pushing his chakra levels down and hiding them as he had been taught. Very carefully, he made his way down the stairs, feet landing evenly and softly. He was light so he could still walk silently over the squeaky floorboards if he went slowly. Besides, the walls and ceiling were rigged to make even more noise if you tried them.

It took him about ten minutes to reach his father's open door.

"Come in, son."

Kakashi frowned. How?

His father was sitting comfortably in front of a low table, his mask gone. He wore a light blue robe that shimmered in the lamp-light, and the empty sake cup and jar next to him gave some indication of what he was doing. "The moon's bright tonight, and the hall has windows," his father reminded him once he was seated respectfully across the table. "You forgot to hide your shadow."

Kakashi nodded mutely, accepting the rebuke. It wouldn't happen again. Remembering his reason for coming, he put his book on the table, opening it to where he had marked. He turned the book so his father could see it, then pointed to a word.

"Serendipitous," read his father.

"Ser-rendipitous," repeated Kakashi. So many words sounded differently from the way they looked on the page, and his father never laughed at him no matter what he wanted pronounced.

"Is that another book from your sensei?"

"A sequel," said Kakashi.

"He's a strange man. But then, most of us are." Father's eyes were slightly unfocused. He usually had an intense gaze that he turned on whoever he was talking to, but tonight Father was staring into the shadows. Kakashi had seen his father drink before, but it had never affected Father like this.

Neither of them were the type to talk much. Kakashi usually left after his questions were asked, but his father's change in behavior, slight though it was, set all of Kakashi's senses on edge. He settled back on his heels, and tried to think of something to say.

"You're not strange."

His father grinned, still staring off at some point behind Kakashi's head. "No?" He met Kakashi's eyes for a moment. "Would you like to drink to the dead, Kakashi?"

"Who?" asked Kakashi, his voice small. He had no memory of his mother or her death, but he dearly wished he did at that moment so he would know if this was his father's normal reaction to death. This man was not his usual composed father.

"We received word today that my friend, Yojiro, was killed." He was back to staring at the shadows again. "He was the last of my genin team."

"I'm sorry."

Father didn't seem to hear him. "Do you remember him, Kakashi? He spent an afternoon once, teaching you to throw shuriken."

"Yes," Kakashi replied, even though he couldn't remember. All he could think was that he wanted out of this room. He would go to sleep and leave his father to mourn. And then his father could go back to being… to being strong again. He got up to leave, but his father grabbed the sake bottle and stood up as well.

"Come, Kakashi. Yojiro needs a drink too." Father's low chuckle was disturbing.

Kakashi was always an obedient son. He followed his father out of the house, scared when Father didn't even stop to put on his mask. The streets were empty and dark, and Kakashi didn't complain when his father took his hand. They followed one of the paths out of the village and into a familiar clearing. Kakashi should have known they were heading to the Memorial Stone. No ninja in Konoha was a stranger to it. Even Kakashi, who had largely been kept out of the war, knew people whose names were on the stone. Many were from his graduating class.

Father upended the jar of sake on the stone then stood there, head bent and lips moving, as if he were reading each name from the beginning. Unsure if his father even remembered he was there, Kakashi stood by his side. It felt awkward to be mourning someone he didn't even know. Was this even the right way for a ninja to grieve? A ninja was supposed to show no emotion, yet his father was here with his glassy eyes and his face filled with emotion. Kakashi didn't want to look, so he stared at the stone upset for more reasons than he could explain. He was angry at his father too. Angry with him for bringing him here and making him see this.

Kakashi had never cried, and he wasn't going to start. But he desperately wished, as the earth around them turned grey in the morning twilight, that his father hadn't decided that tonight was the night when Kakashi had to be stronger than either of them.


	3. Chapter 3: Conversations

A/N: Thanks to my beta, Kilerkki:) And thanks to all my reviewers!

* * *

After the nominations were finished and the details of the exams sorted, Sandaime called out, "Orochimaru-san and Namikaze-san stay behind. The rest of you are dismissed." Minato pushed through the disappearing crowd of jounin to join Orochimaru at the front of the room. Had it been anyone else, he would have said hello, but he had discovered a long time ago that Orochimaru liked to pretend that his teammate's favorite student didn't exist.

Sandaime settled in his chair and took a long draw on his pipe, studying the two of them. "Orochimaru, I've sent Jiraiya on a fact-finding mission to Hidden Rock."

Jiraiya-sensei didn't look like the type to be a good spy, but that was the point. He had an uncanny ability to get the information he needed. Even if most of that information did come from every tea house and brothel in the Five Countries.

"I have reason to believe that Hidden Rock and Rain have formed an alliance that centers on this exam. Jiraiya is under orders to uncover their purpose, but I'd like you to go as well, Orochimaru. Your ways of obtaining information may be useful." Orochimaru's ways made other nin shudder.

"Yes, Sarutobi-sensei. I'll tell Jiraiya you sent me to help." Orochimaru was always respectful to his former sensei, but Minato had no doubt he'd be taunting Jiraiya about needing support.

"That's not all. You're to stay in the area, and send back regular reports. When Minato-san arrives near Hidden Rock, you're to brief him, and offer him any help he needs." It was the first time he'd ever used Minato's first name, Minato noted with a hint of pleasure at the honor.

He looked over at Orochimaru. Minato suspected that the other ninja wasn't happy with his orders now, but the sannin's expression didn't change.

"What is my mission, Hokage-sama?" Minato asked.

"Your mission has two parts, Minato-san," said Sandaime. "The first is to become familiar with Hidden Rock. Any information you can learn will help us in the future. I'll expect a full report when you return."

"As a foreign jounin, they'll be watching me closely," Minato pointed out.

Sandaime nodded. "It was to be expected. I suggest you do your best to appear harmless. You have yet to make your reputation outside Konoha. You can also use Kakashi-san as your shield."

"Shield?" Minato repeated, frowning. He didn't like the idea of putting his student in even more danger.

"Kakashi-san will be the youngest genin to ever take a chuunin exam. They will be underestimating him."

Minato's thoughts were grim. Now that Sandaime pointed it out, he could see how Kakashi could be used. A foreign jounin in a forbidden area would be killed without questioning, but a lost six-year old, even if he was a genin, could hardly be a threat. They would assume Kakashi passed the first two exams due to his teammates, and by the time Kakashi showed his real skills in the final fights, it would be too late.

It wasn't a certainty though. Kakashi could easily encounter a shinobi who would kill a child in cold blood and there was surely some in Hidden Rock who would want revenge on the White Fang through his son. He resolved not to use Kakashi that way unless he had to. Minato could appear harmless and stupid. According to most that was how he'd spent the first half of his life.

"Do I have permission to inform Kakashi of the mission?"

"Tell him what you need to," said Sandaime, dismissively.

Minato gave a small sigh of relief. He could prepare Kakashi then. Getting his student to act young and innocent would be a challenge, but Kakashi was always a fast learner. Kakashi hated when people didn't acknowledge him, but that could only work to his advantage on this mission.

"The second part of your mission is to thwart Hidden Rock's plan for this exam. If you can find a way to destroy the alliance between Rock and Rain, all the better."

Minato blinked. That was a lot of responsibility.

"I cannot give you any specific orders without more information, so I'm leaving the mission details to your discretion. You will hopefully know more when you reach Hidden Rock. Orochimaru will be at your disposal, as will Saburou-san."

"One question, Hokage-sama. Do you expect me to fail or succeed?" asked Minato.

Sandaime inclined his head to acknowledge the question. "Jiraiya claims you're one of the most inventive and resourceful ninja of our time."

It was shocking to hear. Jiraiya's idea of praise was to scold you for being a stubborn blockhead.

"Your rasengan is a remarkable original jutsu. I need resourcefulness on this mission."

"So you expect him to fail then?" asked Orochimaru suddenly. Minato gave the other jounin a startled glance. It didn't do to forget Orochimaru was there, yet he had. He focused his gaze back on the Hokage. He had also allowed the crafty old man's praise to distract him from his first question.

"I expect him to do his duty." It was another non-answer. The Hokage stared at him and Minato met his eyes steadily. They stood there for a long moment, until a faint smile graced the old man's lips. "In truth, I expect nothing can avert this coming war, but I would be a pessimistic old fool not to try."

The candid admission brought a smile to Minato's face. "From one fool to another, Hokage-sama, I don't mind trying."

* * *

Leaving headquarters, Minato was disconcerted to find that someone was walking beside him. One startled beat of his heart, and he recognized Hatake Sakumo nonchalantly keeping pace with him. The tall, masked-man didn't say anything, and Minato would almost have thought that it was a coincidence except for the fact that the other man continued to shadow him even when he left the building.

Minato nodded at the other man, but Sakumo didn't respond. The lack of greeting was typical of the elder Hatake. Sakumo on duty was a cold professional. With friends and teammates he was apparently a lot more relaxed, but since Minato wasn't a friend or teammate and was from a completely different generation, he had never seen the human side of Sakumo. No, that wasn't true. Sakumo genuinely cared about his son.

That was perhaps why Minato wasn't close to Kakashi's father. Minato was Kakashi's commanding officer. Sakumo understood what that meant more than anyone. He was a genius too, after all.

It was surprising to see the other man approach him. Minato had gotten the impression that Sakumo arrogantly and correctly assumed Kakashi's achievements spoke for themselves. Up until now, their exchanges had been limited to polite greetings and farewells. When he first became Kakashi's sensei, Minato had meant to ask the elder Hatake what exactly he had taught the boy over the years, but his first meeting with the other man had been intimidating. It wasn't the older ninja's power or reputation. Minato had trained with one of the legendary Sannin, and he knew all the Sannin well enough to know they were human, though perhaps Orochimaru was less so. No, Sakumo was intimidating because he appeared to be exactly what everyone claimed he was – the perfect ninja.

Part of Minato was aware that perfection came with a price, and that Sakumo couldn't possibly be as perfect as he seemed, but the rest of him was in awe. The White Fang had never failed a mission. Never lost a teammate. It was easy to see why Kakashi idolized his father, even if Minato was fairly certain he could take the older ninja in a fight. He grinned faintly at the idea. Maybe some sparring would be a good way to get to know his student's father better.

"I have the next week free," said Sakumo, breaking into his thoughts. Minato noted that the other man hadn't spoken until they were alone on one of the back streets that ran towards his and Kakashi's usual meeting spot. "I'd like to teach Kakashi something for the exam when his team can spare him."

There was no point in asking what he was going to teach him. Kakashi would tell his sensei readily enough later unless it was a clan secret. "I'm sure that can be arranged, Hatake-san." He smiled at the other man. Kakashi would be pleased to spend more time with his father.

"It's good that he'll be with a team for once," said Sakumo, awkwardly continuing the conversation. Minato tried to keep the surprise off his face. He had been under the impression that Sakumo was either unaware or unconcerned about Kakashi's isolation. Considering the way he turned everything the boy ever did into a lesson…

"Teamwork is important, Hatake-san. I hope Kakashi-kun will learn that too."

His answer had been sincere, but Sakumo seemed upset by it. Now that he looked, there was something odd about the normally stoic ninja.

"We all do our duty."

It was a near surreal answer. Minato was frustrated that, unlike his son, Sakumo's mask really did hide his emotions. "I know," he said finally. It was apparently the right thing to say, since Sakumo nodded and turned away.

"Hatake-san!" Minato called after him. Sakumo had to be worried about Kakashi. He waited until the other man turned. "Kakashi-kun is my teammate. I will always protect him."

Sakumo's eyes were cold, and Minato knew it had been the wrong answer to a question he hadn't even known the other man had asked. "No, you won't. Everyone fails."

He felt a sharp flare of anger. "What do you know about it? You never fail!"

"Everyone fails," Sakumo repeated flatly, but this time Minato caught the flash of sadness in his eyes. He watched the other ninja walk away. The other man's depression was contagious. He hoped that neither of them ever failed Kakashi.

* * *

Ten days passed quickly, and Minato found himself waiting patiently for the last of their group to arrive at the meeting place before they left the village. Both their teams were missing a member – Yoshino-san and Kai-kun, but it was only five minutes past six, so there was still some time before he and Saburou needed to worry.

Ume-san was pacing. For someone who appeared to dislike her teammate, she seemed rather worried. By contrast, her other teammate, Arata-kun was sleeping on the ground, his head pillowed on his pack. Masuyo was playing with his wires, while Kakashi stood stoically a few feet away.

His temporary team was a bit rough around the edges. Kakashi had been quieter than usual, which meant the boy was communicating almost solely in one word sentences. Minato hadn't been able to talk to him alone yet and figure out why. Kai and Kakashi, at least, worked together with their usual efficiency. The two boys had an unusual friendship that seemed to be based around their enjoyment of quiet and solitude. Unfortunately, this meant that the older Masuyo with his constant sarcasm and his unconscious need to be near other people appeared even more abrasive than he would have normally.

Minato knew the reasons behind Masuyo's behavior, and was willing to be lenient. The young man had been relatively well-behaved since that first meeting with Kakashi, but the true test of their teamwork would be during the exam, and that was the one place Minato couldn't protect them.

Not that he would have much time for anything other than the mission on this trip. Sandaime's comment on inventiveness had inspired him, and his spare time had been spent developing and testing his latest jutsu. It was a good jutsu. Once the groundwork was laid for it, he would be in the perfect position to spy on all of Hidden Rock. No matter how he looked at it though, he would need Kakashi's help.

For Minato, acting harmless wasn't hard. He had learned that a smile did more to disarm a person than any type of jutsu. It worked even better on ninja. Ninja weren't supposed to show emotions, therefore a ninja who showed emotions couldn't be a very good ninja. He could always follow his sensei's example when they reached Hidden Rock and flirt shamelessly too.

But Kakashi hadn't done any infiltration training. Would the kid be able to understand the value of misdirection, even when it made you look like a fool? There was only one way to tell. He would have to spend this two day trip training his student.

Yoshino-san and Kai-kun arrived at almost the same time. Yoshino-san was immediately accosted by Ume-san who started scolding her about some boy. Minato exchanged a glance with Saburou and decided he didn't want to know. Kai's arrival was even louder.

"Kai! You have to bring me a present too!" Kenchi was Kai's fraternal twin, though you could be forgiven for thinking they were identical - if you disregarded their completely different styles and personalities. "Just because Cho asked you first doesn't mean you can ignore me!"

Kenchi was also the only person who could get Kai to loose his patience. "You would never have asked if she hadn't asked me to pick up the shuriken." The look of annoyance on Kai's face was so entertaining, Minato had to look away so the boy didn't notice his grin.

"Not true! I was going to give you a list," said Kenchi with a conniving smile. He was probably taking out his frustration at failing the chuunin exam and not being nominated again on Kai.

Kai gave him a blank stare. "You get one item."

"Caltrops. Good quality ones."

Minato stared at Kenchi. Just what did the boy want with those? Hidden Rock had a lot of mineral resources, so it only made sense that they had a fine trade in metal weapons on the side, but caltrops were not a favored weapon here in Konoha.

"Fine," said Kai. "Will you let us leave already?"

"Sure," said Kenchi. "Oh yeah, good luck. Come back with some good scars!" He ran off, which was good since Kai looked like he was going to punch him.

Minato clapped his hands together to get everyone's attention. "Let's get going! Kakashi, you're on point with me." He ran, heading for the gates, knowing that Kakashi would follow.

An hour later, Minato and Kakashi had settled into a walk. They were far enough ahead that no one would overhear them, and both were on alert for the unlikely chance of ambush. Minato debated bringing up his student's quietness or the mission first. The mission would certainly be easier to deal with.

"The Hokage assigned me an additional mission for this trip. I'm not going to be able to train you much." He was sorry about that. Kakashi already had the basic skills to make chuunin, but there was no such thing as being over prepared. Minato would also have loved to teach Kakashi something flashy so he could show off at the exam.

"Okay," said Kakashi.

Minato spent several long seconds waiting for Kakashi to continue, then sighed. He was getting sick of one-word answers.

"You want to talk?" There were a number of things that could be bothering his student and there was no point in guessing if Kakashi was willing to tell him.

"No," said Kakashi, and quickened his pace.

That was it. "Too bad."

Kakashi really did have the coldest glare he had ever seen on a six-year old. "You can't make me!"

"I'm your commanding officer," Minato reminded him gently. "This mission is more important than the exam, and I need you to be focused."

"You need me?" Kakashi never looked younger, or more lonely.

"Yeah."

They walked onwards, and he gave Kakashi a few moments to think. He sometimes thought the reason Kakashi didn't speak much was because the boy spent so much time formulating the perfect question or considering the consequences of saying something that he missed his opportunity to speak. Of course, when Kakashi did speak without thinking he tended to be a brat, so perhaps he should encourage this thoughtfulness.

"What do you do when you're alone?" Kakashi asked finally.

It wasn't the question that Minato had been expecting, but he answered readily enough. "You shouldn't have to be alone. You can rely on your teammates. Your friends."

"What if they die?"

"You grieve. You remember them, and you make new friends." These questions should have been difficult, but they were basic thoughts that all ninja had to consider at some point. Minato had already found his answers, and he hoped Kakashi would accept his until he found his own.

Kakashi glanced at him. "Is that all right?"

"What?" He suddenly felt like he was getting a head start on acting stupid on this trip.

"To grieve," said Kakashi, as if it was obvious. "Ninja aren't supposed to show emotion."

"You don't have to show an emotion to feel it." Someone had told Minato that a long time ago. "Grieving helps you remember a person, and to say goodbye."

"But it makes you so weak…" said Kakashi softly. Minato had a feeling he had finally hit the heart of Kakashi's problem.

"Would you believe me if I said it's okay to be weak sometimes?"

"No," said Kakashi after a moment's thought. Minato felt a surge of affection for the stubborn boy walking next to him. He messed up Kakashi's hair, then left his hand on his head. Kakashi unconsciously leant into the hand as the boy elaborated. "When a ninja is weak, people die. The ninja dies."

"Do you know any ninja who are always strong?" Minato half-expected Kakashi to name his father but…

"No." There was a hint of despair in Kakashi's voice.

"So what's the answer?" Minato asked softly.

"To be stronger than everyone," Kakashi whispered.

Minato wanted to tell his student that it wouldn't work, but he doubted Kakashi would listen. Minato certainly hadn't listened all those years ago. Kakashi would learn, and hopefully the lesson wouldn't be too painful. In some ways, it was comforting to know that Kakashi still had a ways to go before he matured. He stared down at Kakashi's determined face. It was time to cheer the boy up.

"The Hokage recognized your strength when he suggested I include you in this mission."

As expected, the thought that the strongest ninja in the village had acknowledged him, brought a new light to Kakashi's eyes. "What are my duties?" Kakashi asked.

"To act as harmless and innocent as possible. You might have to cover for me as well." Kakashi looked uncertain, so Minato hurried to give him the details of the mission, only briefly touching on the second part of the mission to stop Rock and Rain's plans.

"Both of us have to convince Hidden Rock that we're not a threat. That's why I can't train you during the exam. I'll be the dumb jounin from Konoha, and you'll be the six-year old who's only being entered to impress the other villages and the world."

"Is that why I was entered?" asked Kakashi. He didn't sound upset by the implication, just curious.

Minato chuckled. "I expect you'll impress them when you make it to the final rounds. That's why I nominated you."

"I'll win them too," said Kakashi determinedly.

Maybe he would, if luck was on his side. "Good, but until the final exams, it's important that you act like a child." Minato winced internally at the irony, but Kakashi didn't notice.

"How?"

"Well…" said Minato, stalling a bit. Kakashi wasn't going to like this. "First, you should take off the mask."

"Why?" Kakashi asked in a low, dangerous voice.

"Because you look younger with it off." Not to mention adorable, but he wasn't going to be the idiot who told Kakashi that. "If you take it off now, we can practice looking innocent." Reluctantly, Kakashi pulled down the mask.

"Okay," said Minato. "Have you ever seen the face a child makes when they're begging for a cookie?"

"No."

"How about a dog begging a treat?"

Kakashi nodded. It'd probably been one of his father's dogs.

"Okay. Imagine you're asking me for a treat and try the same expression."

Kakashi gave him a dubious look. "With my tongue hanging out?"

Minato blinked, stunned into silence for a moment. "No. Here, stop walking for a second and try giving me the look."

Kakashi looked up at him, moving his mouth into a sort of grimace before giving up entirely. He was also looking at Minato as if his sensei was insane.

Minato sighed. "Like this, see." He did his best begging face. The one he used when he was trying to get Tsunade-hime to let him borrow medical supplies.

"You look stupid."

"That's the point," said Minato in exasperation. He took a deep breath. "Try pout– ­frowning." Kakashi had lips that were going to make him the envy of many girls someday. Even at this age, his pout would make all but the stoutest of hearts tremble. "Okay. Widen your eyes and let your lower lip tremble. Good. Now ask me something."

"Sensei, can you teach me a new jutsu?" Wide grey eyes stared up at him out of a face still chubby from baby fat.

"Ye- wait!" He glared at Kakashi who looked quite pleased with himself. He was creating a monster, wasn't he?

"If you ever find yourself in trouble at Hidden Rock, the first thing you do is give them that look and tell them you're lost. Ask them to bring you back to wherever we're staying."

"Yes, Sensei."

"Okay. Next expression. Let's see you smile."

Kakashi's smile was tentative, but surprisingly genuine.

"Wider," Minato commanded, surveying the result. It wasn't bad, but the smile didn't reach his eyes now. "Try closing your eyes when you smile." Yes, that was it. With his eyes closed, you couldn't see the seriousness and intensity that no six-year-old's eyes should have.

"I can't see," complained Kakashi.

"Leave your eyes slightly open when you smile," suggested Minato. He could faintly hear the sounds of the rest of their team catching up. "Let's start walking again while you practice."

Kakashi nodded, and began walking with Minato easily keeping pace beside him. He smiled fondly at his student, who was taking this training to look innocent and happy as seriously as learning any new jutsu. He couldn't help but think that Hidden Rock was making a big mistake letting him and Kakashi into their village. He fingered the tools for his new jutsu in his pouch. Yes, a big mistake.

* * *

A/N: Next chapter: Lollipops! No, really.


	4. Chapter 4: Lollipops

A/N: Thanks to my beta, Kilerkki:) and thanks to all my reviewers. It's great to hear what parts are working for you:)

* * *

Hidden Stone was a mass of new smells for Kakashi, the scents made even stronger because he wasn't wearing his mask. Charcoal and a hint of iron were present from the forges. Beneath that he could smell farm animals, unwashed clothes, delicious food with the sharp spices Earth country was famous for, and a faint tang that spoke of rain later that evening. There was more, but he wasn't one of his father's dogs that could sort through scents. The one scent he had been trained to identify – blood – was absent as far as he could tell, but the overwhelming smell of iron could easily be masking it. He made a note to remember that in case any part of the exam took place within the village.

"Oh! Candy! I knew we'd find someone who sold it!" Sensei tugged him forward, past their escort. Kakashi's hand had been held firmly in his sensei's since well before they approached the gates. Kakashi had scowled at the message they were sending, but one sharp glare from Minato-sensei had made him reluctantly relax into the experience. He even made an effort not to frown since smiling was too hard. He had never been able to figure out how Sensei could bear smiling all the time.

Minato-sensei pulled him into a small shop filled with a multi-colored assortment of candies. Kakashi found the smell of sugar overwhelming, but Sensei was almost visibly drooling. Konoha imported all their hard candies from Earth country, so Kakashi supposed seeing a whole shop of them was rare. Minato-sensei did like sweets, so it wasn't surprising to have him visit this shop, but Sensei wouldn't have been so enthusiastic about it if it hadn't been for the mission. Who would expect a jounin to delay his visit to the Tsuchikage for sweets?

Two days of training withstanding, it was only now that Kakashi was beginning to understand just what his sensei had meant by appearing harmless. This was why he didn't mention his dislike of sweets and accepted a cherry-flavored hard candy on a wooden stick to suck on. Sensei grabbed a lemon one for himself and bought a bag of hard candies to share among the rest of their group before dragging Kakashi back out of the shop, apologizing for the delay to their shocked-looking escorts. Saburou-san's team looked a little surprised to be offered candy, but accepted it anyway. They didn't know that Minato-sensei was acting, though Kakashi knew that Saburou-san must know about the mission. Kai and Masuyo had both been briefed to keep their mouths shut about Minato and Kakashi's new behavior, but they weren't given any further information on the mission. Kakashi was relieved. It was bad enough that he'd had to put up with Yoshino-san's abrupt decision to start babying him once he'd removed his mask the day before. He didn't know what he would have done if he had to deal with his teammate's disrespect for his new childish behavior.

He slowly worried at his candy, not wanting it to disappear before they reached the Tsuchikage. If he was going to do this mission, he would give it his all. A six-year old eating candy was sure to look innocent. He glanced up at his sensei who was happily slurping his own candy. Of course, a twenty-two year old eating candy like that simply looked like an idiot.

Looking as bemused as trained ninja could be, their escort continued to lead them to Hidden Rock's headquarters. Once inside, they were led straight to the Tsuchikage. He was a tall, swarthy-man. A cascade of light brown hair fell out from underneath his formal hat. He sat with one leg draped over the side of his high backed chair, but despite his relaxed body, his face told them nothing.

Minato-sensei bowed formally and finally let go of Kakashi's hand. "I, Namikaze Minato, and my fellow jounin, Ukemi Saburou, of Konoha hereby present two teams of three genin for the first Inter-village Chuunin Exam. Konohagakure no Sato requests passes of safe conduct and conveys its well wishes to the Tsuchikage and Iwagakure no Sato."

Kakashi had never seen his sensei so formal, but Sensei ruined it a moment later by producing his candy stick from somewhere and sticking it back in his mouth. The Tsuchikage didn't even blink.

"I, the Tsuchikage of Iwagakure no Sato, do grant your request. All members of your team must carry passes which are valid until the day after the exam ends, barring injuries. Forbidden areas of the village will be shown to you on a map. Hidden Stone is not responsible should you enter them. Instructors are only allowed to watch the final part of the exam. Any interference in the earlier sections will result in the disqualification of the instructor and students. Once the exam starts, exam participants are forbidden to fight each other outside the exams." The Tsuchikage had a melodious voice that nearly managed to hide the threat behind his words. Kakashi didn't think he was the only one who noticed that the Tsuchikage had neglected to welcome Konoha formally.

"Thank you, Tsuchikage-sama," said Minato-sensei with a wide smile. The Tsuchikage inclined his head slightly then surprised Kakashi by turning his dark eyes onto him. Kakashi didn't have to fake his rush of fear at the harsh intent he saw in the other man's eyes. Yet, the Tsuchikage's words when he spoke were surprisingly diplomatic.

"Konoha is to be commended for having the youngest genin to ever take the exam, but there will be no mercy during the test. His teammates cannot protect him forever."

Kakashi hid his contempt for the other man's opinion by staring furiously at the floor. Minato-sensei's hand on his shoulder surprised him out of his sulk. He blinked up at his sensei in surprise, and belatedly remembered to continue eating the candy in his mouth.

"Hatake Kakashi is the son of the White Fang. He'll be fine," said Sensei. "Right, Kakashi-kun?"

"Yeah," said Kakashi, and gave his sensei the happy face they had practiced for the past two days. Sensei looked both proud and amused.

The Tsuchikage was unreadable, and he dismissed them without any further talk. Once they were outside again, Kakashi threw away his now-sour candy when no one was looking.

* * *

Kakashi leaned against the wall of their room, wondering if he should roll out his futon now or after dinner. Dinner was hours away, but Masuyo had laid out his bedding and flopped down onto it. His sharp demand that they keep it quiet had been greeted with a snort of disbelief on Kakashi's part and a bored stare from Kai. Masuyo _sleeping_ made more noise than Kai and Kakashi did while they were awake.

A hand touched his shoulder and Kakashi started only to realize it was Kai. A second ago, Kai had been on the other side of the room checking his equipment. Kakashi inclined his head, silently asking what the other boy wanted. Kai motioned that they go outside.

"Cho wants a personalized sword," said Kai, once they were out in the corridor. His older sister was trying to become a hunter nin. "I'd like to order it now so it'll be done by the time the exam finishes. Will you come?"

Kakashi nodded. For today at least, they were forbidden to go out alone. Since the exam started in the morning, most of the participants were already at Hidden Stone, and they were still allowed to fight each other until the exam started. It would be foolish to let yourself become a target.

Sensei wouldn't like the idea of them going out at all, but Kakashi enjoyed the thought of getting a head start on his _other_ mission, as he'd begun to term the additional help he was providing his sensei. His first mission was to pass the exam, but he wasn't going to let that stop him from helping with the other mission. As for Minato-sensei's worries, well, Sensei was always overprotective on missions.

Kakashi followed Kai out of the inn, reminding himself to look around curiously and stay closer to Kai than either of them would have liked. Kai gave him a thoughtful look, then held out his hand. Kakashi took it with a small grimace. It seemed he was going to spend most of his time in this village being led around by someone else.

"Is there anything else you want to do while we're out?" asked Kai, obliquely asking about the mission. The brown-haired boy was on alert since Kakashi couldn't be.

"I might need to disappear for a moment," said Kakashi. "You won't notice." He looked up at his friend, closing his eyes and giving him his biggest smile.

"It's creepy when you do that," said Kai, and Kakashi couldn't help a small grin of satisfaction. He had started wearing his mask once he graduated from the Academy the year before, so he had a lot of experience in how a _lack_ of expression could affect another person. Now, Minato-sensei's lessons had revealed an interesting advantage to showing emotions, fake as they were. Kakashi would have preferred to be wearing his mask, but since he wasn't, he was going to take full advantage of his exposure.

"It's only creepy to you because you know me."

Kai nodded. "Yoshino-san thinks you're the cutest thing ever." He sounded like he was quoting her.

"She offered to help me take a bath!" Kakashi had been mortified. How exactly did she think he had graduated from the Academy if he couldn't even take a bath by himself?

"Maybe she thought you were dirty?" suggested Kai. He sounded amused.

"It's not funny."

"Mmm."

Kakashi frowned at his friend, but Kai was busy scanning the street. He allowed Kai to pull him towards an open smithy they had passed earlier that day. A wave of stuffy heat hit them as they stepped in the door.

A smith in a regular village would have common iron tools on his walls – nails, shears, and more. Here, the walls were covered in weapons. Shuriken of all sizes hung with swords, and kunai, along with a few more unusual weapons. The smith was busy pounding a glowing iron bar so that it folded on top of itself. They watched him work until the metal had faded to a dull black color, and the smith thrust the bar back on top of the orange coals of his forge.

"Can I help you boys?" he asked when he was done.

Kakashi tugged his hand out of Kai's and wandered over to the wall of weapons, leaving Kai to negotiate for his sister's sword. He waited until they were deep in discussion over a sketch Kai had produced before he moved back towards the front of the shop. Next to the doorway, there was a wall about Kakashi's height closing off the front of the shop. Above it was a wide window that could be closed at night by the awning he could see above it. He considered it thoughtfully. The smith obviously wasn't the tidy type, and there was a large amount of junk placed haphazardly against the wall. A bucket of broken nails and shuriken sat next to a huge pile of rusted chain.

After checking that no one was paying attention to him, Kakashi pretended to examine the bucket of junk curiously. Out of a pouch on his belt, he pulled out a long nail his sensei had given him the day before. He spared it only a brief glance before he drove it partially into the soft wood of the wall. Wrapped around the nail was a roll of paper, though the only sign that it was anything of interest were the characters written on the outside. Minato-sensei had said it was some type of jutsu, but seemed reluctant to explain more. Kakashi repositioned the nail so it would be difficult to see, then moved a broken strap of leather to make it even less visible. The only point Sensei had made was that he wanted to plant as many of the jutsus as possible around the village, particularly in forbidden areas.

Kakashi was extremely curious about what the jutsu would do, but Minato-sensei had only grinned and told him it would be fun. In the meantime, he was to safely plant as many as he could and report their locations to his sensei so the two of them didn't double up areas. In order to cover his movement, Kakashi picked up a shuriken that was so brittle it crumpled to black dust in his hands. He coughed. One jutsu down.

He turned back to the interior of the shop and saw that the smith was busy scribbling notes with a short charcoal stub while Kai examined something on one of the work benches. Kakashi went over to see, but the counter was too high. Grimacing slightly, he grabbed a nearby bucket and turned it over so he could use it as a step. This put him at eye level with Kai, who, if he found it amusing that Kakashi needed a bucket to see, was keeping it to himself.

On the counter were various examples of caltrops. They ranged from the simple variety – a flat rectangle of metal, two ends of which had been separated into sharp points that were bent in various directions – to a complex model that looked like a heavy, spiked ball.

"Kenchi _would_ send me without telling me what type he wants," said Kai. "Or giving me money to buy them."

"He said good quality ones."

"Hmm." Kai pointed to the spiked ball. "That one's worth a D-rank."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. Was it plated in silver?

"It's hollow so you can put poison in it," explained Kai.

"What is he using them for?" Caltrops weren't exactly useful against other nin. They were easily jumped over or bypassed entirely.

Kai picked up one of the cheaper caltrops and stared at it. "I think I know," he said after a moment. He took the caltrop over to the smith and had a quick conversation with him. Looking satisfied, Kai came back. "We need to come back in an hour so I can pick them up."

Kakashi shrugged. "Let's walk," he suggested, wondering if he could find another opportunity to plant a jutsu. He jumped off the bucket, and grabbed Kai's hand, tugging impatiently on it so he would follow. Outside, the streets were crowded with the last shoppers before dinner and other's heading home from work. Kakashi led the way, intent on exploring and getting a better idea of the layout of the village.

"Oh look at him! He must have come to watch his big brother in the exams," said a pretty, blonde woman to her friend as they brushed past. Kakashi rolled his eyes. They had to be blind if they'd missed both his hitae'ate and the fact that he and Kai looked nothing alike.

The crowds slowed to a crawl as they neared the center of the village, but that could only work to Kakashi's advantage. Spotting a likely place, he used kawarimi no jutsu to slip away from Kai without being noticed, and a simple henge to disguise himself for the second it took to sidle up to a nearby wall that was covered in layer upon layer of old posters, their colors bleached out by the sun and rain. He planted the nail, knowing that it would never stand out, then used kawarimi to place himself back at Kai's side. He waited a few seconds to see if Kai would comment or notice that he'd been holding the hand of an imposter, but when the older boy didn't, he congratulated himself on his success.

A second later, he shuddered as the sensation of someone watching hit him full force. It wasn't a killing intent exactly, but it certainly wasn't friendly. He looked around, and spotted his watchers hidden in the shadows on the roof of a nearby building. Three Stone nin crouched on the corrugated iron. The two further away were taller than their companion; one was masked with a wrapping of bandages, the other by an armor face guard. The closest one – the one who was staring intently at Kakashi – was crouched easily on the very edge of the roof. He was short, with brown hair that was done up in a braid long enough to reach the boy's feet. Unlike his companions, he wasn't wearing anything to cover his face. He had a large number of freckles, but that didn't disguise the fact that he was only a few years older than Kakashi.

'_Other genin taking the exam_,' Kakashi thought, then belatedly remembered to look away. They probably hadn't spotted his disappearance before, but identifying and staring at the mysterious ninja who were stalking him showed more skills than he was supposed to be revealing. Even so, he couldn't help risking a glance back at them. Unsurprisingly, they had disappeared.

"Hmm," said Kai, alerting Kakashi to the fact that he'd noticed them as well.

"Who were they?" Kakashi asked.

Kai shrugged. "Stone nin," he said flatly, and pulled Kakashi back towards the smith's.

* * *

Minato-sensei examined Kakashi, Kai, and Masuyo early the next morning to see if they were ready. His face was serious. Kakashi was glad his sensei had dropped the carefree act for the moment.

Sensei eventually decided they were ready. "Right! I won't be able to say this out there, but I'm confident you three will do a great job. Remember you're a team, because this exam will try to tear you apart. Konoha is counting on you." All the seriousness disappeared from his face to be replaced with a carefree smile. "Good luck!" Sensei walked out the door, and the three of them had no choice but to follow. The other team had left right after breakfast. Saburou-san didn't believe in pep talks.

The sky was grey and faded, giving everything else in the village a bleak, washed out look. The dismal appearance wasn't helped by the damp, muddy ground from the night's rain.

Minato-sensei was cheerful as he led them towards the building where they were supposed to take the first exam. Masuyo had black circles under his eyes as if he hadn't slept, yet he had slept through dinner and until they had awakened him ten minutes before they left. Kai, on the other hand, looked calm. He had a huge pack on his back. If these exams followed the usual pattern, they'd likely be in for some extended survival exercise once the first exam was over. Kai seemed determined to bring everything they might need with them. Kakashi had only a small pack. He preferred to travel light and hide most of his weapons somewhere on his body. He had a supply of his sensei's jutsu to plant during the exam as well.

Up ahead, Kakashi could see the entrance of one of the building's being guarded by two Stone chuunin. He frowned, then scanned the rest of the street. He wondered if they thought that sort of trick would work.

Minato-sensei stopped as if he was being pulled by a string. Kakashi wondered about that for a moment until he realized the chuunin were female. "This is where I leave you, kiddies," said Sensei, not even looking at his students.

Kakashi was used to his sensei's behavior so he kept walking, as did Kai, but they were forced to stop and wait for Masuyo to catch up. He did, an annoyed expression on his tanned face. "What are you two doing? The exam's back that way."

"Idiot," said Kakashi, ignoring the glare he got from the eighteen-year old. "The building we're looking for is on the other side of the street."

"Well, sorry if I didn't check what side of the street I was supposed to be on," said Masuyo, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"They do a similar trick for the exam in Konoha," pointed out Kai. Kenchi must have told him about it.

"And you've taken the exam how many times already?" asked Kakashi, reveling in the fact that Minato-sensei wasn't around to scold him for anything he said.

"Never with such a brat," said Masuyo spitefully, but he followed them to the proper building. This one had no guards, but an unassuming sign announced it was the location of the first part of the chuunin exam.

Inside, a long corridor opened up into a rather hastily constructed room. Raw, unfinished boards framed three doors on the far side of the room. The room itself was jammed with genin from all the villages, big and small. Unsurprisingly, the Stone nin dominated the room, though there were nearly as many from Sand and Grass. Kakashi took comfort in the fact that most of them would be knocked out in the first round.

When they entered the room, a bored looking Stone chuunin thrust a piece of paper into each of their hands.

"What's this?" Masuyo asked.

"Your contract. Says Hidden Rock isn't responsible for any injuries or death incurred during the exams. Just sign it and give it back to me." The chuunin had obviously said it many times before.

Kakashi scanned his contract to make sure it said what the chuunin said it did, then took a proffered pen and signed it. Kai did the same, and they both waited on Masuyo who was reading the paper carefully. By now, he'd had time to read it twice.

"What happens if I don't sign it?" asked Masuyo. His scar looked even paler than usual against his tan.

"You don't take the exam." Now the chuunin's voice was scornful. Kakashi and Kai exchanged worried looks. They wouldn't be able to take the exam either if Masuyo refused. Luckily, Masuyo did sign, shoving the paper in the chuunin's face before Masuyo slipped deeper into the crowd. Kakashi looked at Kai, who shrugged, and they both followed him.

They found him with Saburou-san's team. Masuyo was intently playing with his wires – his form of sulking. The other Konoha genin were relaxed. Arata-san looked alert for once, and was idly twirling a kunai. Ume-san was staring, mesmerized, at a handsome black-haired genin from Sand. She didn't even notice when Arata's kunai got dangerously close to slicing into her arm.

"You made it all right. We were worried," said Yoshino anxiously, her dark eyes focusing on Kakashi. "Why don't you come stand over here, Kakashi-chan?"

Kakashi flinched at the 'chan'. He had asked her not to use it, but she had laughed at his request. He eyed her warily. She had a protective look in her eye, and he knew if he refused to go to her, then she would come to him. He gave up and went to stand beside her, going preternaturally still when she ruffled his hair. With a hint of despair, Kakashi wondered when they'd start the exam.

A few minutes later, a dramatic puff of smoke heralded the arrival of a tall, statuesque stone jounin. She had a hard, cold face that didn't match the curves of her body. The talking cut off abruptly.

"I'm Kinjo Amaya, your proctor for this part of the exam. The rules are as follows. A single genin from each team must go through an individual door. That door may not be used again by that team. Returning through a door will result in disqualification. Deviation from the rules will be punished by disqualification. You are free to quit at any time, but your entire team will fail with you."

There was a cry of pain, and one of the genin lowered the hand he'd raised, cradling his palm, where a large needle was now imbedded.

"I didn't say I would entertain questions," said Amaya. "Divide your teams up from strongest to weakest and line up accordingly. You have five minutes before I send the first genin through."

There was a deep silence as they waited to see if the jounin would say anything else. She gave a small smirk, and turned away. There were a few murmurs, and then the arguments started.

* * *

Next chapter: The first test of the chuunin exam...


	5. Chapter 5: First Blood

A/N: Thanks to my beta, Kilerkki:)

* * *

Perhaps in some of the more well-adjusted teams there weren't any fights. Kakashi didn't know, since he was deeply involved in his own team's argument over who was the strongest and weakest. Yoshino-san had seemingly teleported into the middle of a heated argument with Ume-san over who was stronger in their team, which left Kakashi and Kai standing next to a group of Cloud nin who were shouting at each other about who would go first through the three doors on the other side of the room.

"Guess that means the brat goes last," said Masuyo casually, coming closer to where Kakashi and Kai were standing.

"I'm not the weakest here," said Kakashi in a low voice.

Masuyo made a show of looking around. "I don't see any other six-year old brats here."

"Exactly," said Kakashi, proud of his achievement.

Masuyo rolled his eyes. "Look. Maybe when you're older you'll be this fantastic ninja, but…"

"I'm the strongest here," said Kai suddenly. He was staring at the three doors on the other side of the room.

"Kai!" said Kakashi. He hadn't expected Kai to get involved.

Kai smiled. "Well, I think I'm the strongest." He turned to look at them both, and lowered his voice. "Not that it matters."

"What?" asked Masuyo.

"Amaya-sama said to divide our teams up from strongest to weakest, but she said nothing about sending the strongest through _first_."

Kakashi's eyes widened. He was ashamed he hadn't noticed. "She said nothing to indicate we shouldn't," he pointed out thoughtfully.

"Yet, we're being allowed to choose who goes through each door," said Kai. "Her rules were surprisingly unspecific."

"Why would they try to trick us?" asked Masuyo.

Kai shrugged. "Why not? This is the chuunin exam."

"Yeah, but–"

Kakashi tuned them out, thinking hard. The problem was that it didn't help to know that they were supposed to look beyond the actual rules because there were too many options. Any sort of test could be behind each door. They could all be ridiculously hard, or easy. The first door could be the hardest, or the last door, or the middle door. The doors could even all lead to the same place. Or maybe the tests changed every time. Judging by what she had said, Amaya-sama wanted them to send in their strongest fighters first, and those who didn't think about it would do so, but that didn't help unless they knew her goal.

Wait. They did know her goal. It was to fail as many genin as possible. Kakashi knew the final rounds of the exam only had around ten participants. Considering how many people there were in the room, the most efficient thing to do would be to eliminate the weak and unready at this early stage. So, if her goal was to eliminate the teams in this round, and she wanted the strong to go first…

"I'll go last," he offered into a break in Kai and Masuyo's rather heated discussion.

"Why?" demanded Masuyo, giving Kakashi a suspicious look. Kakashi tried to look innocent but had the feeling his innocent look wasn't working as well on the young man as it did on other adults.

"They'll be expecting us to send our weakest through last, and in their eyes he is the weakest," said Kai, looking pleased with the plan.

Kakashi avoided meeting his friend's eyes, as he realized he had forgotten his cover in the excitement of the exam. He vowed not to do it again, but was happy that it fit well with what he wanted to do.

"So who's going first then?" asked Masuyo, gesturing between himself and Kai. He and Kai stared at each other. For a moment, Kakashi thought neither of them was going to back down, but then Masuyo looked away. "Janken," he suggested. "Life's all about luck anyway."

Kai nodded. "Mmm."

"Ready," said Masuyo, and held up his fist. "Three, two, one."

Kai's hand was in a fist, while Masuyo's was flat, his steel rings shining dully in the light. Masuyo would go first.

While they were arguing, the other teams had been moving. Some were still gathered in tight knots of arguments, but the majority had lined up, a single man from each team, in front of a particular door. It was difficult to judge by sight alone, but the majority of the strongest nin did seem to be in the line for the left door which Amaya-sama was standing beside, already ushering them through at timed intervals. Kakashi was mildly surprised to see Arata from Saburou's team in that line, but a quick scan of the other lines and the stubborn expressions on the two girl's faces showed that it had been an unhappy compromise. He stared at Ume in the right-side line, who was fixing her bright orange hair into a tighter bun, and wondered if he was right.

If a team passes or fails based on their combined performance, then there's no point in testing the strongest. You go after the weakest member first. Even better if the team identifies their weakest member for you and leaves them alone for you to attack. Of course, the tests behind the doors might be equally hard, but then it wouldn't matter what order you went in, and Amaya-sama had been insistent in her own way. A glance at her face as she ushered the first line through revealed nothing but hard angles and a bitter twist to her lips.

"Good luck. You're going to need it," muttered Masuyo, and headed towards the first line. Kai left for the middle, so Kakashi took the right line. It didn't surprise him that the nin in front of him – a genin from Mist a few years older than Kai – looked like a competent fighter. A few other teams had to have figured it out, or perhaps they were strong enough that even their weakest fighters were strong. It occurred to him to look for the Stone team who had stalked him the day before, but they must have been near the front since they were nowhere to be seen.

Both the middle and right line were now moving, though the pacing was different for each, which told Kakashi that each test was probably unique depending on your door. He waited, impatiently going over his conclusions again for flaws. Occasionally, a Stone nin would appear and announce a team had failed. Those who were still in line looked angry at their team mate's failures, but any who refused to leave or who tried to argue were simply knocked out by a well-thrown needle from Amaya-sama. She really didn't like questions.

The first line was almost finished, which made Kakashi think he was right in thinking their test was quick and easy. Kai's line was almost as fast now that it had started moving. Another quick test. It was Kakashi's line that was worrisome. It moved in fits and starts with long pauses in between of varying length. An obstacle course?

Finally, it was his turn. He had watched Kai go through his own door minutes before. Kakashi was full of carefully hidden nervous energy as he was issued through his own door. Inside was a small room, and the Mist genin who had been in front of him was crouched in one corner. Kakashi scanned for obvious traps, but could spot none. A Stone jounin appeared near the opposite door with a quiet grace and regarded them blankly.

"You two will be fighting. You are welcome to forfeit now," he said kindly. "But once you pass through that door, one of you must kill the other in order to pass."

Kakashi could feel his whole body tense.

The Mist genin chuckled darkly. "Guess I chose the right door," he said, looking at Kakashi. Kakashi met his hard, amused eyes with a glare of his own, then abruptly looked away and let some of the adrenaline he was feeling sink into his body so that he was trembling slightly. He was supposed to be weak, and if the Mist nin thought he was, it would help him in the coming fight. Because there was no chance of him forfeiting here. He didn't care what he had to do.

"You can surrender," said the Stone jounin helpfully to Kakashi. He actually looked concerned. "Someone else will fight him." He indicated the Mist genin.

Kakashi shook his head no, not meeting the jounin's eyes. They would be watching this fight. He had to somehow defeat the other boy without giving away his skill level.

The Mist genin ran his hand through his dark, spiked hair and came away with an array of knives in his hand. He flourished them in front of him, and met Kakashi's eyes with a surprising blood lust. "I'm Onisawa Ren, and if you think I won't kill you because you're a kid, you're mistaken. In order to graduate the Academy, we Mist nin fight and kill our best friends." He laughed softly. "If I could kill him, I certainly won't have any trouble killing you."

"I'm Hatake Kakashi and−" What was it idiots said in these type of situations? "You don't scare me!"

The Stone jounin gave up. He gestured towards the door. "Get in there, and finish it quickly. We don't have all day." He was talking to Ren now, as if he'd blocked out that Kakashi ever existed.

Entering the room, Kakashi was struck by the smell of blood. The large room looked clean, but underneath the smell was fresh. Many had died here today. The weakest fighting the weakest, but with enough of the strong mixed in to guarantee a high failure rate. It wasn't what Kakashi would have chosen had he been in charge, but it was effective.

They both paced to the center of the room, with Kakashi keeping a wary eye on the older boy. He seemed to fight with knives, but those probably weren't his only trick.

"Begin," called out the Stone jounin from outside, and slammed his door shut. They were now alone in a wide, low room. It looked empty and bare, but there was no doubt they were being watched.

Predictably, Ren threw one of his knives to start the fight. Kakashi pretended to freeze for a second, then dove to the side at the last moment. He rolled, came up on his feet, and kept moving, keeping to the edges of the room and as far away from Ren as possible. He wanted Ren to think he was running away, scared.

Kakashi nearly missed the justu, but he caught the end of a hand seal out of the corner of his eye. When a cloud of knives came flying at him, he knew that some of them couldn't be real, but knowing that didn't matter in the end. A competent ninja would have used kawarimi to get away. Kakashi let his momentum carry him forward and crashed rather painfully into the floor as the storm of knives passed harmlessly over his body. Hopefully, it looked like he had tripped.

He reached out his right hand to grasp two of the knives as he got up. They were thrown at Ren, followed quickly by some of Kakashi's own shuriken. He had deliberately aimed them at outer body parts, knowing it would look like he had poor aim. His purpose was to see how well Ren dodged, and he learnt more than he expected. It was subtle, but Ren hadn't moved his leg quite far enough to dodge the last shuriken. The weapon should have cut through the bandages on his legs, maybe drawn blood, yet there was no sign of any injury.

Kakashi skidded backwards to avoid another set of knives, and stopped. Ren was talking, but he ignored it. The only explanation was that Ren wasn't really standing in the center of the room, and that meant that he was either in the walls, floor, or ceiling. Kakashi used bunshin to clone himself and sent the clone running off in the opposite direction. Ren wouldn't be fooled, but the point was to provide enough distraction for Kakashi to search for the real Ren. If he was hiding somewhere, there should be some sort of telltale – the knives had to be coming from somewhere and there were often other signs when a nin was trying to hide in such an enclosed space.

His bunshin was destroyed, and he spent a few minutes frantically avoiding knives with chakra threads attached before he spotted a faint shimmer on the ceiling in one of the corners. A closer look revealed it was an upside down puddle of water, which either meant there was a leak, or Ren was using a typical water jutsu to hide. There was no sign of a matching puddle on the floor, so it most likely was the latter. Seconds later he realized Ren was herding him in that general direction. Apparently, the Mist nin had gotten bored of playing.

He felt cold with the knowledge that he would only have one chance. Ren's bunshin would back him into the corner, while the real Ren descended from above. It would be better to avoid the trap, but if he took a risk, he could end this fight quickly and without revealing any more of his abilities than he already had. He let himself be led.

Ren's bunshin had stopped throwing knives, or rather, Ren had stopped making it look like the bunshin was throwing knives. The bunshin was approaching him instead, backing him even further into the corner. "This is the end," he said, and gave a low laugh. "At least I got in some knife practice."

Kakashi stared at him, his senses focused on the space above him. One chance.

Ren's bunshin took a step closer, and Kakashi moved as he felt a faint breeze ruffle his hair. He twisted around in place, then threw himself backwards, his eyes nearly crossing as he watched a large knife blade narrowly miss splitting his nose down the middle. If he hadn't moved, he'd have been split apart. The realization was enough to send an extra jolt of adrenaline through his body. He was alive, so it was time to finish this.

Flailing wildly, Kakashi grabbed onto the other boy's wrist as Kakashi hit the ground. That bent Ren over, making it easy for Kakashi to kick out hard against the other boy's shin and lean back even further. Ren's knife was dangerously close to Kakashi's face, but it was too late for Ren to compensate. He fell on top of Kakashi, and as he did, Kakashi pulled a kunai out of his sleeve, and pointed it up, letting gravity do the work of driving it through Ren's ribs and into his heart.

Ren's full weight crashed into him, the handle of the kunai digging mercilessly into his own chest. He winced as the knife in Ren's hand managed to score his neck before Ren went limp. And that was it. He concentrated on breathing, and tried not to think too much about the fresh smell of blood, or the warm, liquid spot that was spreading across his chest.

It was his first time killing someone, but that shouldn't make a difference. He had to be strong. He pushed at the other boy's heavy body, but couldn't get it to budge. Kakashi stared at the ceiling, blinking quickly. He wasn't even strong enough to move Ren's body.

"Looks like you win," said a voice he recognized. It was the concerned Stone jounin from before. Ren's body was pulled off him. "It was good to see you recover after running scared. You've got good reflexes at least." The words would have been more reassuring if the Stone jounin hadn't turned Ren's empty face to face the jounin's. "And you. You shouldn't have given the kid a chance to get lucky. Tsk tsk." He shook his head, then tucked the body under his arm, and walked away. "Door's open," he called over his shoulder. His form blurred, and he disappeared, leaving Kakashi staring after him. He wasn't sure if it was scary or comforting that jounin everywhere seemed to be insane.

He headed for the door that had appeared opposite the one they had entered, wondering vaguely if they had hidden it with genjutsu during the fight or if he had been too focused to notice. Now that it was done, he really didn't want to face his teammates, or anyone else, but he forced himself to push open the door and walk calmly into the next room.

There was silence as the room full of genin stared at him. Those who had already passed through the first two doors were waiting anxiously to see how their third team member would determine their fate. Kakashi ignored them to focus on the Stone nin behind the desk next to the door.

"Name?" she asked.

"Hatake Kakashi."

She checked through her papers. "Team Namikaze passes! Team Myuki fails!"

Kakashi turned back toward the rest of the room, expecting to see Kai and Masuyo waiting for him, but instead it was a genin from Mist. "You fought Ren-san?" he demanded, towering over Kakashi.

"Ren-san made a mistake," said Kakashi tiredly, and pushed past him. He had to get the blood off before it dried.

"Kakashi!" That was Masuyo, and he felt a wire around his waist, jerking him forward. A fist passed harmlessly over where his head had been, and suddenly, both Masuyo and Kai were standing beside him. They stared defiantly at the two Mist genin who had accosted him.

"There's no way Ren-san lost to a kid like that," sneered the taller one.

"But he did," said Kai. The other Mist genin snarled and started to move, but the tall one stopped him.

"Stop protecting him then. If he killed Ren, then he can certainly take us," he said.

Kakashi probably couldn't, not two on one. He wasn't strong enough yet, and even if he wasn't, he was supposed to be weak. "Leave me alone," he said with surprising feeling, hating this mission for what it was making him do.

"Hey! No fighting. Those of you who failed get out of here," snapped the Stone nin from behind her desk. For a second, the Mist genin looked like they would disobey, but then they pushed off through the small crowd that had formed.

"Thanks," said Kakashi to both his teammates. "Where's the bathroom?"

Masuyo shrugged, not meeting Kakashi's eyes, but Kai pointed him towards a nearby door and followed him there.

Once inside, Kakashi staked out one of the sinks and began methodically stripping off any piece of clothing that had blood on it. The blood should come off easily at this stage. His clothes would be wet for the next part of the test, but it was better to have wet clothes than ones that reeked of blood.

"You all right?" asked Kai, watching him wash.

Kakashi left the clothes to soak for a moment, and went over to another sink to wash the blood off his face. At least none had gotten in his hair. He considered Kai's question as he cleaned. His weapons would need to be cleaned too. He winced as he pressed too hard at the already bruising spot on his chest from where the kunai handle had dug in.

"It wasn't what I expected," he said. "What was your door like?"

"Simple genjutsu. Masuyo didn't even get tested. They just had them walk through to the end, then told them what was going to happen with the rest of their teammates. He was pretty worried by the time I came through."

"It's a good test," said Kakashi. "It's guaranteed to remove over half the participants one way or another." He splashed water on his face again, even though it was clean, then used his med kit to treat the small cut on his neck.

"You knew," said Kai.

Kakashi moved back to the sink with his clothing and turned the faucet to hot. "Something like that."

"So you were stupid enough to go through instead of letting your older, _stronger_ teammates handle it?"

Kakashi glared at his friend. Kai had never spoken to him this way before. "That line was for the weakest," he pointed out. He didn't want to talk about this anymore. They were both skirting around the issue of his other mission too much, and who knew if the Stone nin were listening. "You said it was a good idea."

"Hmm," said Kai, and wandered over to use the urinal. Kakashi finished his washing and switched to cleaning and drying any weapons that had gotten wet, while Kai took up a relaxed guard near the door. Wringing the fabric out as much as he was able, Kakashi sniffed the cloth to make sure the blood was gone. It still smelled faintly of iron, but Kakashi suspected that was the water, and pulled the wet, clingy fabric back on. He headed for the door.

His hand was on the handle when Kai spoke.

"I've killed three nin since I became a genin. It's stupid."

Kakashi looked at his friend, unable to speak and wondering just what his face was telling Kai. He nodded, then pulled the door open. He let Kai go first since the older boy was so determined to act as his bodyguard. The first exam was nearly over and there would be no time to think if they wanted to survive the second part. Still, he couldn't help but wonder if he was stronger or weaker than he had been when he started.

* * *

Next chapter: Fun with Yondaime:)

A/N: Out of curiosity, how did everyone like the first part of the exam?


	6. Chapter 6: Sake

A/N: Thanks to my beta Kilerkki:) And thank you to everyone for satisfying my curiosity. I'm trying to keep this exam fresh and as original as possible so it's good to know what's working and what isn't.

Three other things: There will be no romance in this story, but Minato is going to be flirting a lot, and I'm sure Jiraiya will too if he gets the chance.

And finally, Hidden Gems did some adorable fanart of Kakashi from the end of chapter 3. Let's see if I can get a link to work - (add a period in the spaces and a slash in place of the paragraph markers) -www deviantart com () views () 25798270 () Or alternatively just search for HiddenGems on deviantart.

* * *

Minato had an uneasy feeling. The day was bright and calm, but something was amiss about their present scenery. Kakashi, walking beside him, hadn't noticed. They would arrive at Hidden Rock later this afternoon and Kakashi was focused on maintaining his cover of innocence. Minato wondered if one of the Stone nin was watching as an extra precaution. The other possibility was that it was Orochimaru, finally coming to make his report. He had been expecting the other Leaf nin some time last night.

"Time to test your skills, Kakashi-kun," he said, keeping his tone even. He didn't want Kakashi figuring out he was sending him back to the main group for his own safety. "Go use your innocent face on Saburou-san and find out what happened on his mission to Waterfall country. He'll turn red and deny it ever happened, but if you can get him to tell you…" He paused to think of a reward. "I'll buy you a new book."

Kakashi nodded and dropped back, disappearing easily into the scrawny, twisted pines that passed as trees around here. Minato wished him luck. He'd never been able to get Saburou to tell him about that mission either.

Whatever jutsu Orochimaru had been using to mask himself dissolved to reveal him leaning casually against a large rock to one side of the path. "He'll be a pretty boy when he's a bit older," observed Orochimaru. "The girls will never leave him alone."

Minato had an image of an older Kakashi, surrounded by scantily clad women offering him sake, then realized he was thinking of Jiraiya-sensei. It had to be the similar hair color.

"Where's Jiraiya-san?" he asked, only just remembering to leave the sensei off. Jiraiya didn't care, but Orochimaru was sure to mock Minato for it. Never mind that he still called the Hokage Sarutobi-sensei.

"Somewhere outside Hidden Rain."

"What's he doing there?"

"He wanted to cover Rain, so I took Rock."

Minato got the impression that Orochimaru was being more obtuse them usual. "Report," he ordered, somewhat annoyed at the lack of respect. He was in charge of this mission.

Orochimaru combed his fingers through his long black hair, and smirked. "The alliance between Rock and Rain is a reality. Jiraiya-san found out there's been a suspicious amount of travel between the two villages. Lots of Rain jounin in Rock and vice versa. I happened to… find a Stone ANBU out on a mission, but it seems the plans aren't widely known. What he did know was that Rain sent a delegation three years ago, and right after they left Stone began building their arena."

"I thought they were at war then," said Minato thoughtfully.

"Rain was playing both sides between Sand and Stone," said Orochimaru.

Minato could understand if not sympathize. It couldn't have been easy to be a small country caught between the wars of two larger ones.

"So, Jiraiya-san went to Rain. Has he reported back yet?"

Orochimaru nodded. "I received a message last night. He doesn't know what's going on, but Rain is nearly empty."

"Empty?"

"According to him there's barely enough nin left there to keep the village running. They have their genin doing many of their regular missions."

"What about the exam?" asked Minato in a sharp tone. Rain couldn't have neglected sending genin to Hidden Rock.

"Oh, Rain sent some genin for the exam, but they could have sent twice the number that they did." Orochimaru sounded casual, but there was an underlying hardness to his pose that showed he knew how serious the situation was. Hidden Stone was playing a giant game of misdirection. While everyone focused on Stone and the chuunin exam, Rain was… where?

Minato stared up at the sky for a moment before making his decision. "Go help Jiraiya-san at Rain. Find someone who knows what their plan is and report back to me, the sooner the better. Tell Jiraiya-san to consider Hidden Grass." Grass shared borders with the countries of Earth, Rain, Fire, and Wind. By necessity, they had some of the best information on the countries around them.

"I want you both back at Rock by the final of the exam." He might have to change that order depending on what the two sannin found out, but for now it would stand. Unfortunately, that left him without the support at Stone he'd expected for this mission. Saburou-san would be watched, which left Kakashi to help him plant the jutsu. Kakashi wouldn't mind, but Minato couldn't help but worry. He was doing exactly what he'd decided not to do when Hokage-sama told him of the mission – putting Kakashi in danger.

"Orochimaru-san, what do you think they're up to?" he asked. The other nin had an excellent analytical mind and he may as well take advantage of it.

"Rock will betray Rain eventually," said Orochimaru, obviously having considered the question already. "Rain is too weak to be useful for long. As for Rock, I don't know what they want, but the Earth daimyo has been on the receiving end of a number of bad trade agreements from our own Fire lord."

The Earth daimyo was notoriously bad at trade negotiations, or maybe the Fire daimyo was good at them. Either way, Fire Country hadn't lacked in cheap metals and ores over the past years. "Fire Country isn't the only country that has agreements like that with Earth," Minato pointed out.

Orochimaru gave him a disdainful look. "But Konoha _is_ the only village that was seriously undermined by the timing of this exam."

Minato didn't want Orochimaru to be right, even if his instincts were telling him the same thing. If Orochimaru was correct that would mean Konoha was being targeted specifically, and war really was inevitable. "You may be right," he forced himself to say. He tried not to clench his teeth when Orochimaru tilted his head in acknowledgement, a smug look on his face. "Contact me the usual way," Minato ordered, and was glad when Orochimaru took the hint to leave. He had to get Kakashi alone again and explain planting the jutsu, as well as inform Saburou-san of the new mission details. There was no time to dwell on the sense of unease that was still lingering in his stomach.

* * *

There was something comforting about slipping into his harmless persona on the morning of the chuunin exam. It made it easier to ignore the tension his team was radiating. It made it easier for him to ignore his own worries.

After he delivered his team to the exam, he had his own mission to fulfill. He would start by finding the resident gossip of Hidden Stone, because no matter how secretive the village, there always was _one_. He needed to feel out the jounin instructors from the other villages when he found the time, and also find out what the civilians of Stone knew about the alliance with Rain. The line between ninja and civilian was often blurred in a hidden village. The civilians would know more than they were supposed to, and know less about protecting what they knew. He also had to plant as many of his jutsu markers as possible – a task which he had already started the day before.

Unlike his students, he knew the first two parts of the exam would take up the next five days, so he set a goal of establishing himself here in Stone as a dumb, friendly jounin from Konoha before his team returned. Saburou had reported that the Stone ANBU were periodically shadowing every foreign jounin, but he doubted they would keep that pattern up for long. They would most likely settle into watching the more well-known jounin with some random checks on the other foreigners. It was a standard procedure. He was betting Saburou would be one of those watched in the end. The short man looked unassuming, but he was well-known in certain circles for his disfiguring jutsus. Any man who could melt the skin off your face from a hundred feet away was worth noting.

_What's this?_ He stopped and openly stared at the Rock chuunin guarding their false entrance. Both women were wearing the barest amount of clothing possible while still being in typical Stone uniform. He liked the bandages wrapped around one woman's ample breasts beneath her brown vest, though her partner had these fantastic slits running all the way up the side of her trousers revealing a delicious amount of leg. _Which to approach first… Oh, wait. His team._

"This is where I leave you, kiddies," he said, waving them off distractedly. This was exactly the reason he had said his goodbye's before they went out. He couldn't afford to be the caring sensei today. He felt, rather than saw, Masuyo's stare of annoyance before the man turned to follow his teammates.

"Hello, ladies," he said, approaching the chuunin pair. This close, he could see that the one with the nice legs was also wearing a tight black shirt with numerous horizontal slashes on the front under her open vest. One slash was positioned just right to show the underside of her breasts and the fact that she didn't wear a bra. He sunk his weight unconsciously in order to get a better view of the reverse cleavage. _Very nice_. "Your shirt's been in a nasty fight," he told her, finally looking at her face.

She narrowed her pretty blue eyes. "It won't be the only one if you don't back off." She was radiating distrust, and was probably contemplating several different ways to kill him.

He knew how to deal with that. Minato nodded. "Shirts are always the first victims in _this_ type of battle." He let his gaze travel freely over her body, and while she didn't exactly relax, she did stop broadcasting a killing intent. Someone flirting so openly was unlikely to attack.

"Stop bothering her, you idiot," said the other chuunin – she of the wonderful breasts. "We're on duty."

Minato made a dismissive gesture. "Everybody's at the exam that is going to be there. You two are such beautiful distractions. I'll bet you've led a lot of young men astray today…" He turned his leering gaze on the other woman. One should always be an equal opportunity pervert, as Jiraiya always said. "What are you two lovely kunoichi called?"

The woman with the nice breasts looked nauseous – not that this stopped Minato from admiring.

"I'm Miramachi Ichiko," said the other woman after a moment. "Our mission _is_ over," she said to her friend.

"Good," the other spat out, and made a canceling gesture. The beautiful woman disappeared to reveal a taller man wearing the same bandages and with the same long brown hair. He looked about Minato's age. "I can't believe you and Sanko talked me into this, sis."

Minato didn't have to feign his shock or embarrassment. He should have seen through the illusion, and it was no consolation that this strengthened his cover of being a fool. "S-sorry," he stammered to the other man. "You looked–"

"Gorgeous, Jirou," said Ichiko with a wicked grin, apparently having forgone her earlier enmity in favor of teasing her brother.

The man scowled. "If this is the thanks I get for covering for you two... I didn't have to spend the morning being hit on by idiots." His glare transferred neatly to Minato who looked away sheepishly. And if looking away happened to allow him to stare at Ichiko, so much the better.

"So Sanko-san is your sister?" Minato asked hopefully. He ignored the mutter of "pervert" from Jirou.

"Yes," said Ichiko. Her distrustful look was back.

"Your parents didn't have a lot of imagination, did they?" he asked, oblivious to their glares. It took a certain type of parent to name their children "first child", "second child", and "third child". "I'm Namikaze Minato by the way."

Ichiko recognized the name. "You're the one who brought the toddler."

"Oh, Kakashi-kun's six years old. He's just short for his age," he said, deliberately misunderstanding her.

With a silent apology to Kakashi, he pulled a photo out of one of his pouches. The week it had been taken, he had been recovering from a mission that felt like it had stolen a part of his soul – it had involved a little girl about Kakashi's age. Days afterward, he had bought his first camera, and spent the week annoying everyone around him with his amateur photography. That particular day, he and Kakashi had been playing a game called, "Where's my mask?!" He ruefully rubbed a faint scar on his wrist. It was a game they had never played again. Still, it had been worth it for the entertaining expressions Kakashi made every single time he was cornered and held for a picture taken by Minato's kage bunshin. He held it out for the two chuunin to see.

This particular shot had been taken right after Minato had promised to give him back his mask. The poor boy had believed he meant right then, and therefore the look of happiness was real. Together with the goofy grin Minato himself was sporting in the picture and the way he was holding Kakashi fast against his chest in a backwards bear hug, they looked about as harmless as two nin in uniform could appear.

"He's five in this one, but he's only grown a few inches so…" He continued to chatter on blithely, watching them slowly stand down, and allowing himself to relax into his own mission.

* * *

That evening found him wandering the streets, pretending to be oblivious to his Stone ANBU tail. He could tell by the ANBU's disinterest and relative visibility that this was a routine surveillance, and so he made a show of shivering in the cold wind while searching for a warm bar or tea room in which to enjoy himself.

Once he left Ichiko and Jirou, he had wandered the village trying to locate the two ramen stands he knew were there. Being lost was a good excuse to talk to people. Now, he was trying to find the appropriate bar for the evening. He had deliberately bypassed both the inn the foreign jounin were frequenting and the bar he had tentatively identified as the main Stone shinobi hangout. Both were the obvious places to go for information and he wanted to avoid giving the impression that that was what he wanted. In fact, he had avoided gathering any information today, and had instead devoted himself to getting a feel for the village. There was little he knew this evening that he hadn't known before, but he felt a lot more confident about the mission. Hidden Rock presented a hard exterior, but they were as human as the rest of the world underneath.

Finally, he ducked into a cozy looking establishment on the street corner. The lantern outside advertised both food and drink, and he could see that it was a popular place with a mix of civilians and ninja. Inside, there was a bar with a cook behind it who was busy stirring some sukiyaki. Several tables and chairs filled the rest of the room, which was crowded enough to keep their one server busy.

Minato noted a Cloud jounin with short green hair sitting at the bar, and decided he would take a table. The jounin looked like he wanted to be alone with his drink. Minato walked purposely through the tables, ignoring the waitress' curious look. He was planning to choose a table at random and rely on his charm, when a woman's profile caught his attention. He smiled. This restaurant was definitely lucky.

For him, that is. He slid into a chair right between a cautious-looking Miramachi Sanko and a dark-haired man who smelled of smoke. "Hello, Sanko-san. I met your sister and brother today. He doesn't do you justice." He kept up a goofy grin even though her boyfriend was doing his best to sear a hole in Minato's face with his eyes.

"They didn't mention you," she said. There was a wary look in her brown eyes.

"Trust me. I'd recognize those breasts anywhere." He stared at them happily. It was only as her fist connected with his face that he remembered some of his sensei's advice about kunoichi. Specifically, never flirt with one unless you meant it, and even if you did, duck. He picked himself and his chair off the floor, then tried moving his jaw and winced. Civilian women tended to slap, but kunoichi would punch or worse. Sanko was pretty good too. He hadn't sensed that coming. And she was getting up to attack him again.

He waved his hands, trying to ward off her anger. "Ah! Sorry! Sorry! I only wanted to say 'hello' and now I've messed it up. Sorry!" Now it was his turn to use his best pleading expression.

"If you need help, sweetheart…" offered the other man.

She glanced at him. "I can pick you up one-handed," she said in a low voice. "What sort of help do you think I need?"

He looked at her defiantly. "Yes, you never need help!" He pushed away from the table and walked stiffly out the door. Sanko grumbled something under her breath that Minato didn't catch, then sat back down. Minato cautiously took his seat next to her again.

"Sorry," he offered again. Her skeptical glance told him she didn't believe him.

"He'll get over it or he won't. That's always the problem dating civilians."

Minato nodded, even though he had only a faint idea what she was talking about. Obviously, he had stumbled into the middle of an old argument.

She pointed at him. "And don't think for a minute that this gives you a chance with me."

"When I see a beautiful woman, I can't help but extol her virtues," he said, hoping she would take it as an explanation. That line was totally Jiraiya's, but Minato had stolen it since most of the women Jiraiya used it on didn't know what a "virtue" was.

"Ichiko must have _loved_ you."

He relaxed slightly. She had some of her siblings' senses of humor, and he had already learned how to deal with them earlier that day. "I think your brother was more upset when I hit on him," Minato admitted.

Sanko stared at him for a moment then burst into laughter. He joined in out of habit. It was easier to laugh about yourself with others than to let the laughter hurt.

"You didn't?" she asked finally.

"I did," he said around a chuckle.

"Oh. I owe him something nice then," she said, a faraway smile on her face. It lit up her face, and Minato felt a pang of regret that he didn't have time to pursue a relationship on this mission. Not that he could start one with a potential enemy anyway. He glanced around the room, letting her have her moment of thought. His eyes focused on the Cloud jounin at the bar again. The man was swaying in his seat, and looked like he was trying to decide whether to fall asleep or cry. It was an effort for Minato to keep the alarm from showing on his face. It was one thing to drink in foreign territory. It was another to get absolutely plastered to the point of not being able to defend yourself.

The server came over and asked what he would like. He ordered some of the sukiyaki, and some sake though he didn't intend to drink it. He kept the chat with Sanko light while they waited for the order to arrive. She was easily distracted, obviously thinking of her missing boyfriend. The waitress set the bowl of sukiyaki in front of him and he took a cautious sip. He wasn't sure if he liked how they over-spiced things here in Earth country, but it certainly made meals interesting.  
"So, what was the first part of the exam like?" he asked.

Sanko's jaw dropped. "You're not supposed to just ask!"

"I wanted to know, so I asked. Is that wrong?" he asked, playing dumb.

She stared at him for a moment, then glanced at the Cloud jounin. She had made the connection as well. "Has your team passed?" she asked carefully.

Minato shrugged. "I haven't heard anything so I guess they did."

"No official notices?"

Minato wanted to race back to the inn and check, even though he had been there only an hour before and there had been nothing. "None."

She sighed. "There's no real reason not to tell you. Each team sent a member through three different doors. The first door didn't have a test. The second was only a minor genjutsu. And the third was a fight to the death." It was said matter-of-factly, as so many things were in the ninja world. Minato wasn't sure if that chilled him more.

"They fought each other?"

"Yes. Eighteen teams passed," she said. Which meant that eighteen genin had died today, if not more from the second part of the exam, the details of which he would have to find out soon.

"How did they decide who went through each door?" he asked. Who from Saburou-san's team had gone through that final door? Who from his own team?

"I don't know. I only know that much because a friend was complaining they got off too easy."

He wanted to push for more information anyway, but he could sense his period of grace was over. Sharing information did not come easy to ninja. "Too easy for my team," he bragged, getting a small glare for his troubles. Tomorrow, he would have to get more specifics. He slurped down the last of the sukiyaki, and Sanko took it as a signal to stand up.

"I'm going to go track that idiot down. I'll tell my brother and sister you said hello."

"Especially your lovely sister," said Minato brightly.

She shook her head in mock exasperation. "If I tell her that, she might add a matching bruise to the one I gave you."

"Anything to be closer to her or you."

"Do you even think before you speak?" She rolled her eyes and walked out, but he could tell he had amused her. He had friends in this village already.

After a moment's deliberation, Minato picked up his untouched jar of sake. Quietly, he slid onto the stool next to the Cloud jounin. Minato poured them both new cups. Bleary yellow eyes stared at him for a moment before the jounin went back to his drink. Minato took a long sip of his, and listened to the wind howl outside.

* * *

Next Chapter: Part two of the exam. Things are not going well for Kakashi...

Reviews appreciated:)


	7. Chapter 7: Follies

A/N: Sorry for the delay. Real life's been busy and looks to stay that way (not to mention took down one of my stories and banned me from uploading for awhile…). I'm afraid I can't guarantee any more fortnight updates like before New Year's. Gomen. Other than that, Niko's name in the last chapter has been changed to Jirou since someone reminded me of naming conventions I should have remembered in the first place. Thanks to my beta, Kilerkki, and thank you to all my reviewers:)

* * *

It was hours before the first part of the exam finished. The torture of waiting affected many of the genin, making them nervous and edgy. Others lounged about looking calm. They were usually the older ones – veterans of the recent war despite their rank.

Kakashi paid no attention to anyone. He had followed Kai out of the bathroom and returned to Masuyo, who still wouldn't meet his eyes. They had drifted over to where the other Konoha team sat. Ume-san looked fine except for a tightness around her eyes. It was doubtful that today had been her first kill. When Yoshino-san began to move towards him, Kakashi flinched and nearly went for a kunai. He didn't want to be comforted by her, and he wasn't sure what he would do when he was held within her arms. At that moment, a hug from her was more frightening than facing any number of ninja.

If they had ever been asked, Kai and Kakashi would never have said they were good friends, but perhaps whatever they were was good enough, because Kai shielded Kakashi from Yoshino-san so he could sit down against the nearby wall.

"Kakashi-kun! Are you all right? Kakashi-kun?"

Kakashi slammed his hands over his ears, then thought better of it, and quickly placed a finger in each ear instead. Instantly, Yoshino's pleas for information were downgraded to a muffled murmur that was easy to block out when he focused on the noise from the blood rushing through his head. He looked up to see how Yoshino was taking this, and saw she was in full ranting mode – her hands on her hips as she tried to scold Kai – but Kai was stoically standing guard and she was getting no nearer.

Relieved, Kakashi pulled his knees up to his chest and buried his face in them, careful to keep his fingers in his ears. Like this, the whole world was unreal. It wouldn't be a safe thing to do on a mission, but Kai was standing guard, and at the moment, Kakashi didn't care. So, curled up and preternaturally still, Kakashi listened to the blood in his head and gradually fell asleep.

He was awakened later by muffled shouting. A fight had broken out, and this time the Stone chuunin hadn't been quick enough to stop it. By the time Kakashi opened his eyes and removed his fingers from his ears, the fight was over. A tall Sand genin stood with a kunai embedded in his shoulder. He was attempting to glare through two familiar masked figures – the Stone genin Kakashi had seen on the roof the day before – at the final member of their team. The freckled boy was obviously the one who had thrown the kunai, yet the Stone chuunin cast one unreadable glance at him, and turned to berate the Sand genin and his team instead.

"What happened?" Kakashi asked Kai softly. The older boy was in the exact same position in front of him he had been in before Kakashi fell asleep.

Kai shrugged. "Sand insulted Stone and the Tsuchikage."

"They didn't have to wake me up," Kakashi complained. He stood up and stretched.

"Aw, is the baby cranky after his nap?" asked Masuyo. The annoyance was back in his voice.

Kakashi glared at him, but refrained from replying. He wasn't in the mood for a fight. The brief moment of sleep had given him back more than energy – it had also restored his equilibrium. He felt ready to face the next part of the exam.

It was good that he did, since a few seconds later a cold breeze blew through the crowd and a dark figure appeared in the middle of the room. He was tall, and covered from head to toe in loose, black clothes. There was no sign of the usual shuriken or kunai pouches. In fact, the fabric was so loose they couldn't see a body underneath the clothing, not even hands. The man's head was covered in a hood, and his face shrouded in a black mask. The only color in the uniform was the large Stone insignia painted over the full face mask in white.

"Hello, genin. Welcome to the second part of the exam." It was like the Stone insignia was speaking. "I am your proctor, Yami. Follow me." He walked with such a smooth pace that it seemed he glided across the floor.

Out the door they followed him, and down a set of stairs on the outside of the building. They passed through a covered alleyway, and through a pair of open wooden gates that were covered in dormant paper seals. Kakashi took the opportunity to plant one of his sensei's jutsu near the gate.

Once they were through, the gate swung shut, and the paper seals glowed faintly. Many of the genin shivered as they realized they were now locked in an area that required heavy levels of protection. Yami turned to his right and continued to walk across the suddenly barren ground. Eventually the whole group stopped before a looming cliff face of red and yellow streaked rock. There were crevices and dark caves scattered about the cliff. Running down the center of the cliff was a deep crack through which they could barely see arches of colored rock and beyond that a pine forest.

Yami turned to face them. He stared at them all until some genin began to shift uncomfortably under his unseen eyes. "Your teams are disbanded," he said finally, ignoring their dismay. "Behind me is the Valley of Shadows. As ninja, you will find there are times when all you can rely on is yourself and your own power. Here in the shadows, you will be tested." His tone was somber and detached.

All Kakashi could do was clamp down on his growing sense of horror and listen.

"Each of you will be given half of a medallion with a symbol on it. It must be worn in a visible place on your body at all times. Your purpose is to enter the valley alone, and find the other half, which will be held by one of the genin here. Anything goes. On the fifth day, you must be back here before sundown with your completed medallion. If you leave the valley before the fifth day, you will be disqualified."

Kai had actually put his hand on Kakashi's shoulder, he was so alarmed. Kakashi could feel its heavy weight as his mind raced through possibilities. The genius part of him – the one who planned ahead and saw so many things more clearly than some adults ever would – was racing to meet the challenge. While the six-year old child he rarely remembered to be cringed under the speculative and predatory glances he was now receiving.

It was to be expected in a situation like this. They were all going to have to hunt each other down for their medallions. He was considered the weakest one here, so not only would he be hunted by whoever had his opposite medallion, he would be hunted period. He was the obvious target, and there would be plenty who would try to eliminate competition by collecting medallions. It was no comfort that the freckled Stone genin was getting some of those predatory looks as well.

"There's no rule saying we can't work together, is there?" asked Arata-san. The Konoha genin was trying to hide his worry. He was the weakest member of his team, and was used to working in a group.

"Form alliances with whom you will," said Yami, "but you will not be entering as a team. When I call your name, claim a medallion from my assistants, and enter an entrance of your choice." There were several caves and the great crack in the cliff for them to choose from. Kakashi stared at them, analyzing which would be best for him as the first name was called. Whichever entrance he chose, others were sure to follow. He had already decided that if he was called in the beginning, he would plant some traps and ambush his hunters. If he was called near the end, he was the one who was going to be ambushed.

"Kakashi-san. Masuyo-san," said Kai in a hushed voice. "We need to meet up once we're in the valley." Kakashi gave him a startled look. He had forgotten he had teammates.

Masuyo scowled. "It's impossible. We don't know the layout of the valley, and even if we did – everyone's listening!" He raised his voice on the last word, causing at least one of their listeners to flinch visibly.

"We can all chose the same entrance," insisted Kai.

"Not without them hearing," said Masuyo. He stared at Kakashi, and at the surrounding genin. "The kid should quit now."

Kakashi's glare was cold, but also distracted. There was no question of him going in the valley. He needed to focus on survival, and not the stupidity of his teammates. "Imbeck–imbecile," he hissed at his older teammate, then turned his furious glare elsewhere as his tongue betrayed him. His eyes met those of the freckled Stone genin, who looked both amused and superior. Kakashi had to urge to stick his tongue out at him, and since he was supposed to be childish during this exam, he went through with the action.

"Kakashi–" began Kai, and then Yami's voice cut through everything, "Hamato Kai."

Like any good ninja, nothing showed on Kai's face, but it was obvious he wasn't happy. "I'll be in the forest," Kai said abruptly, and he met Kakashi's eyes for a moment before he left to get his medallion.

Kakashi knew his own worry showed on his face. He couldn't decide if Kai was being stupid or smart. Everyone around them now knew that Kai would be in the forest and that Kakashi would probably be heading there. Two easy ambushes. And yet, the forest looked large from here so maybe it would be easy for them to hide their presences. Kai was fantastic at disappearing when he wanted to, and he would leave a sign only Kakashi would understand for him to find.

"Why is everybody in Konoha insane except for me?" asked Masuyo. He was winding a wire around one of his rings distractedly. "I certainly won't be heading for the forest now."

"You'd probably get lost anyway." Kakashi was really beginning to hate the man. Why couldn't he stop his complaining and act like the adult he was supposed to be?

"Not as lost as you're going to be."

Kakashi ignored him, keeping his eyes focused on his choice of entrances. There was a cave off to the left. It looked no different than the others, but off to the side he could see a faint path worn by the tread of many feet that led into its entrance. He would have bet that it was the regular entrance to the valley. And if it was a trap? He would deal with that as well.

"Hatake Kakashi," called Yami.

He met no one's eyes as he pushed through the sudden crowd towards the black-clad ninja. Masuyo was forgotten. He had five days in which to find a medallion and survive. Nothing was going to stop him.

* * *

His hiding place for the rest of the day was a shallow pit. Choosing a random patch of ground among the barren arches and boulders that made up the first part of the valley, he dug deep enough to cover his body and used a jutsu to hide the telltale signs of his location in the dirt. With the help of the breathing tube he was carrying in his pack, he was able to breathe and think.

The cave he had chosen to enter had been a good choice. Even when it plunged into total darkness he had been able to follow the faint indentation on the hard, mud floor to find his way easily to the inside of the valley. After checking for traps, he had set one of his own on the exit. Patient waiting had brought him his first prey – a teenage Stone genin who had cursed up a storm before Kakashi knocked him unconscious and took his medallion. He had set up the trap a second time figuring that the predatory looks he had been receiving outside would send someone else after him soon. The second genin – this one from Grass – had been caught, but only for a second. Kakashi had reluctantly left when he lost the advantage of surprise.

He had spent some time scouting and avoiding others before he settled in his hiding place to plan the next five days. Both his sensei and his father had always impressed on him the importance of thinking ahead, even if it was hard to concentrate. The longer he stayed underground, the more he began to think of his hiding spot as a grave, and the more he began to think how vulnerable he was without his eyes and nose to warn him of danger.

The medallion half he had been given had half of the kanji for "monkey" on it. The one he had stolen had half the kanji for "ox". He could only assume that twelve of the medallions had the kanji for the various hand signals on them. It was unfortunate that he would have to wear his own medallion in a visible spot. He'd rather wear the ox one and fool the other genin, but Yami's rules had been specific. Then again, the man had only said the medallion had to be visible… He grinned as the idea came to him, and filed it away for later.

The length of the exam would work both for and against him. On one hand, he now had five days to find the other half of his medallion. On the other, he had five days in which to avoid all the people hunting him and meet up with Kai if he could. He also was under orders to show as little of his skills as possible. There was no way the Stone nin were watching the exam too closely – the valley was too large, but it was likely they were checking up on everyone. He had to plant his sensei's jutsu as well.

And so he had to decide what to do now. Masuyo was a write off. Other genin would be dangerous to approach, but he would have to check as many as possible for his medallion. In many ways, this exam depended on a ninja's luck. There were over fifty genin in the valley, and you could hide _other_ people's medallions. In fact, after the first day or two, it'd probably become impossible to find all of the medallions.

The wise thing to do would be to identify as many medallions and their owners as possible on the first day, and hope to find your own. Of course, they would be doing the same thing, and many wouldn't stop with simply looking. It wasn't just the other person with the monkey medallion who would attack Kakashi. He was too easy a target.

Kakashi stifled a sigh, grimacing at the feel of dirt pressing him in on all sides. It didn't matter how long he waited, or what he planned. He was still a target, so he might as well get out and moving. He would stick to high ground and make his way to the forest. If Kai was there, they could team up. If not, he would make it on his own. That was what being strong meant.

He waited, senses straining to sense anyone around his hiding place, before breaking cover. Nothing happened, so he assumed he was safe and took a moment to brush off the dirt. Instincts saved him. He was dropping to the ground before he even saw the kunai heading for his body. He rolled, and used kawarimi no jutsu to disappear before the second wave of kunai chimed on the piece of rock he'd used for the technique. Hidden in the shadow of one of the many nearby rocks, he surveyed the area. He knew where the kunai had come from, but it was likely the other genin had moved to follow him. Time to disappear again.

He left a bunshin where he had been standing, and concealed himself nearby. It was obvious the genin had been staking him out while he thought, but he couldn't be all that skilled or else Kakashi would have been dead by now.

Kakashi's bunshin was well hidden, but it only took a few more seconds before it was found again. The other genin was smart enough not to show himself, and instead sent another shower of kunai. Before it could land, or rather, go through the bunshin, Kakashi was heading towards the source of the kunai. He leapt high over the rock his opponent was hidden behind, reaching into his pack at the same time for the long-bladed tanto his father had gifted him with the week before. He hit the top of his arc, twisted and threw. There was a glimpse of a dark-skinned face squinting up at him, then he was past. He had chosen the tanto because he wanted a weapon that would skewer the other boy, but he was beginning to feel it had been the wrong choice.

All was quiet once he landed. The prudent thing to do would be to run, but he refused to leave the tanto behind. He doubted he had actually killed the other boy, so the silence was a trap. One he would have to spring. All ninja were expected to carry mirrors and Kakashi was no exception. He pulled his out and used it to peer around the rock to see his opponent – who was no where to be found except for a splash of blood.

Once again, Kakashi's instincts screamed for him to move, but this time he was too slow. A foot connected heavily with his side, just below his ribs. It jerked his body to the side, and he let his momentum pull him into a sideways roll away from his attacker. He ended up standing, facing his opponent for the first time. The pain in his side was already fading.

The other boy looked about twelve, with the dark skin Kakashi had noticed before. Tattooed on his forehead was an intricate red flower that seemed to grow brighter with chakra even as Kakashi watched. He was suddenly sure that it would have been a very good idea if he had forgotten the tanto and run.

"I'm Goro. This is a nice knife." He held up the tanto. The last few inches were dark with blood. The hitaiate around his waist showed he was from Grass, and tied right next to it was half of a medallion with the kanji for 'dog'.

"Hatake Kakashi. Give it back and leave." He gestured at his own medallion which was currently around his neck. "I don't have your medallion."

Goro's smile would have been friendly if it had reached his eyes. "I had already planned to take it off your dead body."

"And if I give it to you now?" Kakashi hated himself for making the offer, but he was sure he didn't want to face Goro's power right now.

"You drew my blood. That makes you mine."

A thousand options went through Kakashi's mind, and he settled on one of the weirder ones. Sensei would love it.

He stared up at the other boy and let his face relax into his best "upset" face. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do it!" he wailed.

Goro blinked in puzzlement at the abrupt change. With perfect timing, Kakashi slammed one foot between the boy's legs, then drove his palm straight up into Goro's chin. Goro scream of agony was cut off abruptly as his jaw clicked shut, and he collapsed brokenly to the ground. Kakashi grabbed the tanto that Goro had dropped in surprise, and ran as fast as he could.

Hours later, Kakashi was trying to figure out why he had reacted with so much… fear to the other boy. There had been something about that red flower on Goro's forehead that sent a sweep of panic through his body. He could still feel an echo of it now, and he hated the sensation. He had been excited and confident about this exam, but now that he was here, he was worried. What if he did fail and disappoint his father? His sensei? His village? Swallowing, he shook his head to clear it. A true ninja wouldn't have these doubts, so neither would Kakashi.

He was on the edge of the forest. Pine trees that had looked tiny from the entrance to the valley were actually gigantic with trunks wider than Kakashi could stretch his arms. Most were bare near the ground, but further up there were lots of dead branches sheltered under a canopy of green needles. It should have been dark, especially since the sun had already set over the rock edge of the valley, but there were hundreds of glowing, yellow bugs flying through the air above him. Their irregular flights cast strange patterns on the forest floor.

Kakashi was on edge. The shifting patterns of light were perfect for covering an attack. He couldn't feel anyone watching him, but that didn't mean anything if the other ninja was skilled. He followed the edge of the forest looking for any sign of Kai. The floor of the valley wasn't all that wide and within a half hour he had reached a sheer rock face and was forced to go deeper into the forest to avoid covering old ground. He had already decided he would search for Kai until he was too tired to stay alert. Then he would hole himself up in one of the trees and get some light sleep before he continued on his medallion search.

He found Kai's sign over an hour later. It was etched deep into the base of a great pine close to the center of the forest. The sign consisted of Kai's name and nothing else. Kakashi stared at it, having expected more information since all he knew now was that Kai had made it here. He examined the area, looking for some other sign or perhaps a trap. Nothing.

He came back to stare at the name, and finally realized what he was supposed to do. It was like in the books his sensei gave him to read – a riddle was left for the hero to solve. He was definitely going to have to speak to Kai about the difference between 'obvious' and 'stupid' though. With a frown, he held his hand up in the traditional sign. "Kai!"

The name faded away to be replaced with a set of grid coordinates that also identified the tree he was standing at as the point of origin. That was better. He memorized them, then scored them out with his kunai. No one would follow him.

He leapt up into the trees and raced through the forest, following the mental map in his head. The coordinates revealed a small glade where the faint moonlight mingled with the light from the glowing bugs. Kakashi leapt down from the trees to land just outside the glade, trying to sense any hidden traps.

The pine scent was overwhelming, so he didn't notice the body until he was standing in front of it. Bound to the nearest tree with endless loops of silver wire was the body of his teammate, Hamato Kai.

* * *

Next chapter: The second part of the exam continues... Reviews are always appreciated:) 


	8. Chapter 8: Shifting Light

Thanks to my beta, Ashfae:) And thank you for your reviews!

* * *

It was strange how focused Kakashi became, like he was far away on an easy D-rank mission and not staring transfixed at the body of his friend – his only friend. The wires pressed Kai's body so tightly to the tree that the flesh bulged around them. They were densest around his torso, but there were enough around his head that had Kakashi not been familiar with his friend's distinctive uniform, he would have had to look twice to identify him.

In the weird haze that surrounded his mind, there was no real thought but disproving that what he was seeing was real. He was standing directly in front of the body before he knew it. "Kai!" he shouted, hoping to dispel the accurate, highly detailed genjutsu he'd stumbled across.

Nothing changed.

With a cry, he had a kunai in his hand, and was running at the tree. He slashed down with all the force he could muster, snapping some of the wires around Kai before the kunai snagged and jerked out of his hand, thumping softly on the forest floor. He could smell the subtle decay now. Kai had been here for hours while Kakashi played around.

His breath was coming in quick pants, and it felt like no matter how much he tried, he couldn't get enough air. Why had Kai been so stupid as to try and help him? Your teammates were always secondary to completing the mission, especially this mission. Didn't he know that? Didn't he–

Something grabbed his ankle and pulled straight down into the pine-needled forest floor. For a heartbeat, Kakashi was still caught up in his mind and the sight before him – then he closed his eyes, breathed out, and pushed it all away. As if he had all the time in the world, he reached into his back belt pouch and pulled out an explosive tag. His foot was sinking without resistance into the shadows at his feet, caught in an iron grip. He hunched down and reached into the shadows, ignoring the fact that his other foot was beginning to sink as well. If he was swallowed by the shadow, he was going to die.

One hand came down and found the hand that was grasping his ankle. He grabbed the pinkie finger and bent it back with a quick jerk, slapping the explosive tag on the hand when it reflexively let go. His head was now level with Kai's legs. He hauled on the wires that were still binding Kai in front of him and pulled himself out of the shadow to clutch at Kai's body. There was a low rumble and then the floor all around him erupted in a spray of pine needles and dirt. The tree Kai was tied to wobbled precariously and tilted to the left, bringing Kakashi with it. Its fall was only stopped by another nearby pine.

The treacherous light of the fire bugs revealed that the dirt below his feet was both dark and wet. He was beginning to breathe easy when the shuriken sliced through the outside of his leg. He sprang up, then channeled chakra into his feet, fleeing up the opposite side of the pine that was now Kai's grave marker. At best, he had injured, but not incapacitated his original attacker. At worst, his attacker hadn't been alone.

And were his attackers now, the same ones who had killed Kai?

He went to leap to another tree, but stopped himself just in time. One of the fire bugs level with his head had flared brighter for a moment, revealing a line of light that spread from a nearby tree. Casting about, he spotted more lines.

Closing his eyes, he concentrated his senses outwards and leapt, letting his instincts control his body as he avoided the wires that were strung between the trees. He landed softly on the forest floor, crouching with his kunai at ready. All the exits from the clearing were already blocked by wires, but he just needed a small opening to escape. If he could figure out where his attacker or attackers were, he could make that opening.

Another figure landed next to him and their kunai met in a shuddering clink, but before Kakashi could do anything else, the other ninja disengaged and threw the kunai at a dark shadow that had been creeping towards them.

"Consider me an ally," demanded the other boy. Kakashi could now recognize him as the freckle-faced Stone nin. The other boy looked remarkably unscathed. There wasn't a single hair out of place in his braid.

"Why?" asked Kakashi.

"Because there's two of us and three of them."

Three? No time to think then. His hands moved quickly through the seals of a jutsu, and he slammed his hands into the ground. "Dokiru no jutsu!" The ground around them rumbled, and then there was a loud groan as all the trees around them lost their stability, their roots cut straight through. Dokiru no jutsu sent out a wave of chakra about a foot below the surface in an ever widening circle. Anything or one underground would have been cut straight through.

He caught the other boy's startled look before it was hidden. "Two more?" Kakashi whispered.

The brown-haired boy nodded. "One is already injured."

"That was me," said Kakashi grimly.

"They won't be underground now, Hatake," said the other boy, looking around as he did so.

That was true, but perhaps they would show themselves if they thought Kakashi and the boy were off-guard. "Who are you? How do you know my name?" he demanded in a voice that was much louder than he would have usually used.

The boy sent him an annoyed look – obviously he didn't understand Kakashi's plan. "I know your name because you're the youngest genin to ever take the chuunin exam. Before you came, that would have been _me_."

"Which is why you've been watching me. How old are you?"

"Almost eight," said the other boy defensively. "And my name is Kourizatou Ippei." It was a familiar name, though Kakashi couldn't place it. Kourizatou was probably the son of one of Stone's more famous nin, just as Kakashi was the son of the White Fang.

"Doesn't explain why you're helping me now," said Kakashi. Was that shadow on the tree next to them a little too long?

"Your skills have been pretty basic, and I thought you could use some help." That had to be a lie. Kourizatou probably thought he was a good target too. "Now, I'm not so sure. You might actually be a worthy–"

The shuriken Kakashi had been concealing in his hands were thrown in a vertical fan that passed on either side of Kourizatou's body. Kourizatou looked stunned right before the body of the nin who had been crouching behind him collapsed in a bloody mess on top of him. Kakashi leapt straight up – the only area where there weren't wires – and threw the last of his kunai in multiple directions. He landed lightly on the trunk of another tree, hoping desperately he had hit his marks.

Kourizatou was still struggling to push the body off of him, so Kakashi doubled over, panting exhaustedly and only half-acting. The final ninja appeared as he had hoped she would. She was an older teen from Rain whose right arm was now a mass of bloody, mangled flesh.

"Who the hell _are_ you?" spat out the teen. "You can't be that six-year old crybaby!"

"Did you kill my friend-teammate?" Kakashi demanded, not caring anymore that he'd had to break his cover.

"I wish we had, considering you've killed two of mine," she growled and attacked. Kakashi dodged, letting her push him where she wanted him to be – right back next to Kourizatou. There was look of triumph on her face as she used the wire attached to her left hand to trigger the trap she'd woven while Kakashi and Kourizatou had been talking earlier. Her eyes went wide when it didn't work, and Kakashi released a breath of relief, thankful that his kunai from earlier had severed the anchor points. There was a huge explosion as the two explosive tags he'd planted in the two most likely places for her to perch while triggering the trap went off. The Rain nin wasn't exactly in the center of the explosion, but she was caught in it and her body ricocheted off a tree before crashing to the ground and lying still.

"You're sure it was only three?" Kakashi asked into the ensuing silence. It was an effort to push away the real question in his mind – who had killed Kai?

"Yeah," said Kourizatou. He gave Kakashi a sly look and calmly plucked the medallion off of the corpse he had easily pushed off of himself. "You've been playing us." He sounded amused, and Kakashi realized all the blood he'd seen on the other boy before was gone, as was the smell.

It occurred to Kakashi that he'd been played as well. Kourizatou could have handled the three nin, but had wanted to see what Kakashi would do. Kakashi shrugged. No point in denying it now.

"What of it?" he asked.

Kourizatou smirked. "Nothing. I approve. Here!" He thrust the medallion he'd retrieved at Kakashi. "Your kill, your prize."

Kakashi considered the medallion, ignoring the leaden feeling in his stomach at the mention of his kill. It had half the kanji for "rat" on it. He didn't need it, and he had the feeling this was a test. "Keep it. I don't need it."

The other boy laughed. "Good! 'Cause I do." He pushed it into a pouch, and Kakashi was left wondering what he wanted it for since the medallion half he wore clearly displayed half the kanji for "silence". "I'll get the other medallions while you get your kunai," the other boy offered.

"You want to work together, Kourizatou?" asked Kakashi, wondering what the other boy was trying to do.

"I think together you and I will be unstoppable," said Kourizatou arrogantly. "Call me Ippei by the way. Koorizatou is my father's name, Hatake."

"And Kakashi's mine," Kakashi snapped back before he could think about it.

Ippei grinned. "So now that we're on first name terms, what do you say to a partnership? I won't even say anything about your pretending to be unskilled. It'll be great to see you surprise everyone in the finals, and I want to fight you there."

"Why should I trust you?"

"Uhm…" Ippei's confident façade dropped for a second to show a confused young boy. "I can't think of anything that you'd believe," he said sheepishly. "My teammates and I are meeting on the 4th day. Until then, I'm on my own, and the both of us are prime targets so I figure we can watch each other's backs."

"As if you weren't planning on stealing my medallion earlier," said Kakashi.

"I was, but you obviously don't have the ones I need, and you're not so easy a target. I prefer you as an ally."

"The ones?" asked Kakashi. Perhaps that was why he had wanted the "rat" medallion.

"One of my teammates has a crow summons that he uses to keep in touch. We all know each other's medallions and are on the look out for them."

Kakashi nodded his understanding. The Stone nin were a lot more prepared for this exam than Konoha had been. Of course, they had the advantage of this being their home territory. For all he knew, the second part of the exam was always like this here in Stone.

"Hey! How about I ask them to add "monkey" to the list of medallions to look for next time Shiiro sends his crow?" Ippei looked hopeful, but Kakashi wasn't willing to give in yet.

"Why haven't you joined up with them if you're in contact?"

A stubborn look appeared on Ippei's face. "They baby me too much. I told them to let me fight my own battles for once."

"And now you want to fight with me?" asked Kakashi skeptically.

"Well, it'll be hard for a six-year old to baby me." He sounded smug. "And don't think I'll be sitting out any fights from now on."

Kakashi nodded his understanding, and realized that he'd already made the decision to join the other boy. Wasn't his sensei doing the same thing out there in Stone? Befriending the enemy? "One last question – did you kill Kai?" He stared hard at the other boy. His sensei would have been startled at how much he looked like his father at that moment.

Had Ippei mocked the question or laughed it off, Kakashi wouldn't have believed him, but instead he straightened and stared right back at Kakashi. "I didn't."

Kakashi gave a sharp nod. "Fine. I'll get my kunai and cut Kai down, then we can go."

"Sounds good."

It was an easy matter for Kakashi to retrieve his kunai and plant yet another of his sensei's jutsu. He'd have to be extremely careful about that from now on since he was traveling with the enemy. The harder part was cutting Kai down, which was why he was shocked to find that Ippei had already done it when he returned to the clearing.

"What are you doing?" he nearly screamed upon finding the other boy searching through Kai's pack.

Ippei started guiltily. He had a smudge of dirt on his face; probably from digging up the nin Kakashi had killed with dokira no jutsu. "I was wondering if they'd looted his stuff before they killed him."

"It doesn't matter! You shouldn't have gone through his things." The wild thought that he had already killed four people today and another wouldn't matter passed through his head. Then he saw Kai's body, lying peacefully on his back. _No. He had killed five people today. _ He stalked over and grabbed the pack away from Ippei, ignoring the boy's apologies.

Everything was intact as far as he could tell. They had only wanted Kai's medallion. Kakashi had watched Kai pack the bag last night and now he would never use it again. He realized he'd been staring at the bag for several minutes and mentally chided himself. He couldn't afford to be this weak. With a deep breath, he began to unpack the bag, laying out all the weapons and supplies in a neat circle around him. Most of it would have to be left here, but some of it might be useful. He would let Ippei take things as well. Kai would have preferred people using his things to them being left to rot here in the valley.

Reaching the bottom, he pulled out a thick sack, bound tightly with twine to form a small package. Curious, he slit the twine with his kunai and stared in shock at the neat set of caltrops with holes bored into them. Why had Kai brought his brother's gift with him?

Kai's brother and sister, he remembered abruptly. They were waiting for Kai to come home from the exam. His hands clenched around the package. Not any more.

He deliberately took the caltrops and added them to the small pile of supplies and weapons he was claiming as his own. Since everything was out, he took the time to clean and bandage the shuriken cut on his leg, and eat some of the rations Kai had brought. When he was done, he looked up at Ippei, who had settled down cross-legged nearby and appeared to be dozing. "Take what you want," said Kakashi, and began to repack his own pack.

Ippei nodded and took his own share of food and weapons. "You going to bury him?" he asked with a false casualness.

Kakashi wanted to. "No. The examiners will take care of it." And they couldn't afford to stay here much longer. Everyone knew that he and Kai were supposed to be in the woods.

"Okay," said Ippei. "Let's retreat into the caves, and get some sleep."

Kakashi wondered what made the other boy think he was their leader just because he was older, but nodded his agreement anyway since what Ippei said made sense. "You know the caves?" That could be a great asset.

"Yeah. I used to explore here when I was a kid." He didn't seem to be aware of the irony of his statement. "Oh, here's your medallions." Ippei dropped them next to where Kakashi crouched.

Kakashi flipped them over, and couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. One medallion had half the kanji for "luck" on it, and one had half the kanji for "monkey". He fit it in triumphantly with his own half, though he dropped the medallion in surprise when the two halves fused seamlessly together.

"Shouldn't have done that," said Ippei. "Now you have to wear a complete medallion and they'll know they can just kill you rather than try to get your medallion."

"The ones who aren't hunting for extra medallions will leave me alone," retorted Kakashi.

"I don't know what exams are like in Leaf, but no one is that merciful here."

Kakashi refused to answer. He reminded himself that Ippei already knew that Kakashi's poor skills and childishness were an act so there was no reason for Kakashi to actually act childish around him. It was a thought he would have to remember a lot in the days to come.

* * *

Next chapter: Hmm, not sure yet. Jiraiya wants to make a flashy entrance so maybe we'll find out what Kayaku's been up to. It's going to be awhile either way. My apologies in advance for the wait. 


	9. Chapter 9: Whispers

A/N: Ohisashiburi, ne? (Long time no see). I'm busy writing my book, but for some reason this chapter wrote itself this weekend. Of course, it wouldn't upload in firefox and it took me forever to remember to try IE, but you don't want to hear that ne?

Thanks to everyone who's reviewed. It's nice to know you guys are enjoying the story:)

A big thank you to my beta, infiniteviking.

* * *

Chapter 9: Whispers

Minato wandered about the edges of the town, letting his feet choose their path with no conscious input from him. There had been no ANBU guard around him for a few days now, but he couldn't afford to let his guard down. Not to mention he was on edge worrying about his team. One more night and he would know who had passed or failed. He refused to think that some might have done more than fail.

The other teams were thinning out. Nothing was being reported officially, but many more jounin were taking to the solace of drink or other comforts when the news reached them of their genins' failure. One jounin in Rain had lost his entire team, sending him into a homicidal rage that required several ANBU to quell it. Rumors were flying fast, and Minato had felt his heart stop the first time he had heard that Kakashi was dead. Only years of training had made him confirm his source and breathe a sigh of relief when he learned it was only hearsay. Since then, he had heard it several times and he had taught himself to laugh and assure his listener that Kakashi-chan was being well looked after by his teammates. Never mind that he was most likely on his own and being hunted by some of the most vicious and brilliant children of this generation. A generation Kakashi wasn't even old enough to be part of.

It had taken him another day after the start of the exam to narrow in on the village gossip. Hanasu Koe was a stocky, brown-haired chuunin with a craggy but open face. There were some ninja who pursued the career not for glory or patriotism, but because it was a job like any other. Koe was one of those. He didn't go on many missions and instead worked in Stone Headquarters, though not anywhere near anything classified. His superiors were as aware of his gossiping tendencies as everyone else. It made conversations with the man rather interesting since you knew that one way or another, everything you were being told was approved of by the Tsuchikage.

And what Minato had been told was a mixture of banal and terrifying. The solitary medallion hunt that made up the second part of the exam was brilliant. It reminded him of his own chuunin exam in a way, only the Leaf's exam had been designed to eliminate the competitors without killing so many of them. People were commodities in the ninja world, despite what Mist and their training methods seemed to think. It was a good, if cruel, test that his students were going through, and he worried about all of them constantly, though Kami-sama would have to forgive him for worrying about Kakashi a bit more than the others.

"Yo, Minato-san," called Jirou. He was loud for another nin. Minato checked that his smile was still on his face. He and Jirou had done some manly bonding two nights ago. He had gained Jirou's trust – along with far too much information about what it was like to be raised by two sisters, a mother, and an aunt.

"Jirou-san!" He jumped. "I didn't hear you!" Intellectually, they had to know he was good at something if he had made it to jounin, but in practice he'd been downplaying all of his skills. It was human, if stupid, of the Stone nin to accept him at face value.

Jirou patted him on the back, and then threw his arm across Minato's shoulders, pulling him close. Alarms went off in Minato's head. Had he been found out? Was Jirou going to tell him some secret? Was he irresistible to both men and women?

"Minato-san," Jirou said in a low voice. "Nobody has told you yet, have they? I yelled at my sisters today for it since we all know."

"Know what?" whispered Minato, trying to stop his heart from beating out of its chest so he could finish this conversation. It felt like all this acting had destroyed his ability to remain cool.

"One of your students," began Jirou, and Minato squeezed his eyes shut in anticipation, "is dead. They think he was killed by one of the Rain team that was wiped out."

It was only his need for information that stopped Minato from beating the stuffing out of Jirou for tormenting him this way. "Who?"

"Hamamoto Kai."

Minato winced; already feeling guilty about the equal mixture of sorrow and relief that flooded through him. One of his students was dead. A student he had sworn to protect and guide had failed the exam. Kakashi's friend was dead, but Kakashi was alive. He was a bad teacher, but Kakashi was alive. And he was selfish and focused enough to paste a confused look on his face, and let the guilt and elation eat away at him while he played the information game. There was no time for grief. Kai had died on a mission, and unfortunately, the mission parameters didn't give any of them room to mourn.

* * *

There was always a drink bar on the outskirts of a town where the women were rumored to be a little more favorable to a man's charms (or at least, his wealth). Minato had been here the night before and gotten involved in a very important debate about whether Leaf or Stone's women had better breasts. It had been settled or rather, forgotten when the ladies of the establishment took it upon themselves to end the argument by removing their shirts. After that, it had been very easy to get the information he wanted out of his drinking companion, the head of the ANBU Information Retrieval Unit, i.e. the Torture and Interrogation Squad.

Stone's ANBU had been busy in the recent weeks. Assassinations were low, and the ANBU had been sent on simple information retrieval missions watching various people across the Five Countries. Less than a week ago, nearly all the operatives had been recalled due to the exam – another mystery since missions didn't stop during exams, no matter what civilians seemed to think. And why recall them after the exam had started?

Women danced or lounged around him in a revealing display of flesh. His eyes wandered, unseeing, as his mind worked furiously trying to piece the information he had into a coherent whole. Stone and Rain were working together and had been for many years. They had a plan that centered around the Inter-village Chuunin exam. The plan would be implemented during or soon after the exam. So far, Rain was doing the physical work while Stone staged a large distraction in the form of the exam. Stone was unfriendly with Konoha – Leaf was the only village that wasn't given a formal welcome. But there was no specific hostility to Leaf that he could detect. He was inclined to agree with Orochimaru and think that Konoha was being targeted for political reasons.

In front of him, a young lady was demonstrating her flexibility for the crowd by doing a slow, standing, backwards flip. Her balance was a little off.

"The legs could use a little work."

There was a slap and blooming pain, and Minato realized he'd been speaking a little too loud. The crowd was jeering since she'd stopped her display to slap him.

"Sensei's rule number three: Never tell a woman she's wrong or ugly, even when she is."

That earned him another slap from a different woman who he would have sworn was quite beautiful if asked. Minato was tempted to mutter Jiraiya's rule number four (no verbalizing the third rule), but decided not to push his luck.

"You'd be better off not talking, kid," said a friendly voice from behind him. The other man gave him a friendly smack upside the head then shooed one of the ladies off of a nearby chair, only to pull her back down to sit on his lap. It was Jiraiya, in full pervert mode. They had been in the same room for an hour now but this was the first time they had talked.

"Jiji," Minato said, more to annoy his sensei then because he actually thought his sensei was old. Granted, most ninja died young, but Jiraiya still had another decade before he would be considered old by ninja standards. "I don't need your advice." Never mind that he had just been quoting it.

Jiraiya's face was red from the sake, and he gestured angrily, managing to "accidentally" grope several of the women in the process. "Do I look old to you?"

The 'yes' was on the tip of his tongue, but if he started a fight with his sensei then they would never get a chance to talk alone and compare notes. "I think I've had too much to drink," he said instead and squinted at Jiraiya. "You're a little too blurry for me to tell."

The older man threw his head back and laughed. "Told you I'm not old," he said to a blonde that was hanging on his arm. "Get him another drink, love, so he can see straight."

Minato had to stifle his sigh of annoyance at that one. Neither of them were as drunk as they looked or acted, but it was a pain to have to find creative ways of not drinking the sake. He took a small sip of the cup he was poured. And such good sake too. He spilled the rest over his hand, pretending he was too drunk to handle it, but Jiraiya-sensei spotted it.

"Hey! None of that, kid. Didn't anyone teach you to drink properly? What are they teaching children these days?"

Children being the key word. Minato could remember being offered his first drink by Jiraiya when he was ten. Still, he nodded good-naturedly and let Jiraiya draw him into a friendly drinking competition, both of them using their skills to make the sake disappear without it ever entering their bodies. Minato wanted Jiraiya to give in first, but he knew that wasn't going to happen so somewhere around their fourth bottle, he slid out of his chair and into a drunken heap on the floor. Jiraiya laughed but comically joined him a cup later. Their drinks had been paid for when ordered and there wasn't much left to steal after such an expensive night so they were probably safe from robbery.

Miyako, their main companion for the night, must have actually liked them, since she went off to have a quiet word with the manager before one of the bodyguards returned to lug their stupefied bodies into an unused, tatami-covered room. Minato grinned inwardly when she stole a kiss from his lips, though it quickly disappeared when he listened to her do the same for Jiraiya-sensei. Oh well.

They lay quiet; pretending for any would be observers. In fact, Minato allowed himself a light doze while they waited for their senses to tell them they were alone. Eventually, he heard Jiraiya stir and check the perimeter of the room before the light tap of the ANBU 'all clear' signal was drummed against his calf.

"Thank you for coming, sensei," said Minato opening his eyes.

Jiraiya snorted. "It's not like that snake-loving bastard could meet you here. He'd have to dress up as one of the girls. Something purple since the bastard likes it so much." The quick, sly glance he threw Minato's way told him he was making the joke to cheer him up, and it worked. The image of Orochimaru in a purple kimono with flowers in his hair sent him into a drunken giggling fit. It went on longer than it should have and at the end he found himself on the floor, staring blankly at the wall while one of Jiraiya's big hands rested lightly on his back to comfort him.

"Orochimaru told me losing the first student hurt the worst, though to be honest, I don't think it hurt him at all. He's so cold," said Jiraiya. Sometimes Minato thought Jiraiya defined himself by being the exact opposite of Orochimaru. "He's wrong, of course." Minato could imagine Jiraiya's big smile. "They all hurt equally." And Jiraiya would know. The rest of Minato's genin team were dead: Uhatsu lost in the war, and Takako on a mission that no one would talk about.

"I didn't come here to discuss this," Minato said. It wasn't a rejection of the comfort, only a reminder of their mission. A light pat on the back and Jiraiya's hand withdrew. Jiraiya's concern had been just what he needed and Minato felt like he'd had an epiphany. Far beneath the persona he showed the world, Jiraiya had a surprising insight.

The following sharp kick to his side didn't surprise him either. He grunted a little in pain.

"Roll over, brat. I hate talking to someone's back."

Minato did so, feeling a little better. He appreciated the comfort, but he liked Jiraiya when he was the grumpy and unconcerned sensei too. "Report," he commanded. He had been waiting for Jiraiya's information for days.

Jiraiya looked weary. "You're not going to like this. Grass confirms everything we've learnt about Rain. Almost all their members are out on missions, but none of them have been sighted for weeks. Not even Shito-shito." Shito-shito was Rain's most famous nin: S-rank, not a missing nin as so many of the Amegakure's best were, and he or she (no one knew) was said to be so powerful Shito-shito couldn't travel anywhere without small squalls forming in his wake.

"Grass is certain that none of them have passed through their lands, which means Rain either circumvented them entirely, or they're in the Wind or Earth country." Or several smaller countries that lacked hidden villages, but that was highly unlikely and Jiraiya was right to dismiss them even if Minato would have to keep them in mind.

"What do you think?" Minato asked.

Jiraiya puffed himself up and put on his most cocky face. "I happened to wander into Wind country."

"Completely disobeying my orders."

Jiraiya's glare clearly told him he didn't appreciate his former student pulling rank. "You didn't say not to stay out Wind country," he pointed out, sounding like a genin. Minato had a sudden flash of sympathy for Sandaime.

"I could have used you here," he said, but relented in the face of Jiraiya's childish stubbornness. What had he expected from a mission with two of the legendary Sannin under his command? "What did you find?"

"Wind is clear. Sand is patrolling the borders and no one is getting in. I think they might know Rain and Stone are planning something. Rain is in trouble if they did get through anyway. It's the dry season there." And Rain's jutsu were mostly water based.

"They wouldn't have been stupid enough to plan a major offensive during the dry season. Not without Stone to back them up. So you think Rain is in Earth country?"

Jiraiya nodded. "I have no concrete information, but the little things keep pointing this way. If I had to make a guess, I'd say they're in this village."

It was a chilling thought. Minato couldn't help getting up and checking the seals and traps Jiraiya had set about the room to maintain their privacy. What could Rain being doing hidden in the Iwagakure? Minato had seen no sign of them, and Rain already had invitations to be here in force. Wild theories went through his head. Had they replaced the jounin or genin from other villages somehow? Rain had their good fighters but they weren't _that_ strong.

"What do you think they're doing here?" he asked Jiraiya. If there was one thing this mission was teaching him, it was that you should rely on other people sometimes.

Jiraiya shook his head. "I haven't been in the village long, but I've not been able to spot them. They're either in the forbidden areas or in deep disguise."

"Tell Orochimaru he has free rein to find one of them. Whispers only." Orochimaru could do anything he liked now so long as it didn't get connected with Leaf or Fire Country. Minato felt a pang of regret about the people who were soon to go missing from the village of Stone. Orochimaru wouldn't be able to use his signature jutsu, so at least they would die relatively painlessly. He hid his shudder. Not for the first time, he was glad that Orochimaru was on their side.

"It's your call," said Jiraiya, sounding subdued. Minato could tell he didn't want to use Orochimaru this way either, and not just for his victims' sakes. They were getting further and further apart, but Jiraiya and Orochimaru had been teammates once.

"We have no choice, sensei. Stone wants to destroy us." A thought occurred to him. "Can you get close to the Earth daimyo?"

A new light appeared in Jiraiya's eyes. "Rumour has it he likes to gamble."

"Be careful. This is what they'll be expecting."

He was smacked upside the head. "Don't tell me my job, brat."

The daimyo would be in the Earth capital until the final exam, which would put Jiraiya out of normal lines of communication for a time. It was a risk, but he and Orochimaru – and Kakashi – should be able to handle things here. Minato's jutsu were all over the village now, so his biggest contingency plan was in place, and Saburou was running interference. He was prepared, for all the good it might do him. It would have to be enough.

* * *

Minato spent the next day full of nervous anticipation and guilt. The second challenge ended at sundown, and it was all he could do not to run through countless scenarios of what was happening in the Valley of Shadows. Kai was dead. How were Kakashi and Masuyo? Were they injured? Had they completed the challenge? Had they survived only to fail? He felt horrible thinking it, but he needed one of them to pass so he had an excuse to stay on as a jounin sensei.

Since he was supposed to be a nin with little control, he let his nervousness show in as many ways as possible. Sugar was much better than coffee for these purposes. He bought a huge bag of candy, and munched on it all day, giving another layer of jitteriness to his already frazzled nerves. His 'friends' in the village were worried about him. Ichiko had even let him grope her and done nothing more than swat his hand away. Someday, when he was less worried, he was going to spend some time figuring out how she hid so many shuriken there.

The jounin sensei were allowed to wait outside the gates to the valley, and Minato showed up hours early, pacing and offering candy to anyone else who showed. Nobody took any, and the more juvenile part of him couldn't help being amused that they were so paranoid.

"No, thank you," said the jounin from Getsugakure who had just appeared.

Minato nodded his smile firmly in place. At least this jounin was polite. "It's not like I'm going to poison you," he said, laughing at little at his own joke, then allowing it to fall flat in the face of everyone's disapproving stares. They reminded him of Kakashi. So serious, and yet they weren't taking him seriously. He could kill them all in three seconds. It was a thought that nearly wiped the smile from his face. Their guards were down in his presence, and the village had spilled the secrets of many this past week. How many of these people would he be fighting against in the future?

Turning to start his pacing again, he took a step back in alarm. A Stone ANBU mask stared back at him, only an arms length away. "Neko-san, what can I do for you?" he asked in a nervous voice. The ANBU had managed to surprise him, but it was something he would never have let show in normal circumstances.

"Follow," said the ANBU. His voice was deep and probably disguised. Minato spared a glance for his fellow jounin. They all looked blank, which meant they were worried. The ANBU took off and he followed at an easy pace, doing his best to make it look difficult to keep up.

They ended up on the other side of the village near Headquarters. It was right on the edge of a forbidden area, and Minato wasn't all that surprised when he was led over the border to a body, covered in a sheet to protect the sensibilities of the nearby civilians. The Stone nin who were standing around, even the ones he knew, were at their most serious. Their only acknowledgement of him was to pull off the sheet.

Minato stared in disbelief. It was Saburou, slumped sideways against a low rock. His eye patch almost blended in to the dark, brownish-red blood that was crusted over his face. The other eye was open and unseeing. The rest of his body looked almost peaceful, except – he took a step sideways and bent down to look. It was half way hidden under his body, but Saburou's right arm had been melted away. White bones lay in place, obscenely clean. The finger bones were unattached, without flesh to bind them, and lay scattered in the dust.

A sick feeling welled up from his guts and spread through his entire body. He staggered to another rock and sat, his head bent, focusing rather absurdly on whether or not it would be better or worse for his cover if he was to throw up. It would certainly be better for his stomach. Someone had turned Saburou's jutsu against him. Saburou's acid was designed to melt flesh, and so painful he'd seen nin surrender rather than face the man. For someone to have done this…

"What happened?" he asked.

It was the cat ANBU who spoke. "Iwagakure expresses its regret for your loss. The Tsuchikage wishes to assure you that Stone wasn't responsible." He paused. "But he was in a forbidden area."

Minato kept his face hidden, knowing they would see his anger if he didn't. There had been no blood on the rock Saburou was slumped against. Someone had moved him after the blood had dried, and even kept the bones in place. It explained why the finger bones had been so scattered. To accuse them of the murder would ruin his mission. More disturbing was why had Saburou been targeted in the first place. Had he discovered something?

"I need to contact the Hokage, and collect the body. He was my friend." His voice sounded raw. There was no acting involved.

"You are allowed," said the ANBU. "Do you wish to formally accept the care of his team?"

It would complicate things, but he couldn't leave the genin without a mentor. "I do." With Saburou's death he felt very vulnerable. The sun was setting behind his back, and he had a number of things to do before he could meet his genin at the gates to the Valley of Shadows. He wished fleetingly that he was bringing them better news, then took a deep breath and got back to work.

* * *

Thanks for reading. Next chapter - Kakashi and the second part of the exam. No promises on how long it will be before it's written though. Reviews are appreciated.


	10. Chapter 10: The Gauntlet

A/N: Well, it seems Kishimoto finally caught up to me;) I'll be using Minato Namikaze instead of Kayaku Uzumaki from now on, and I changed the name in all the previous chapters. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed and thanks to my beta, Havenward.

* * *

It was morning on the final day of the challenge, and Kakashi stared through slit eyes at the bruise on his arm, unable to remember at what point he had acquired it. There had been that time squeezing through the sideways crack that only he and Ippei were small enough to get through, or maybe when he slammed into that tree while trying to avoid a giant shuriken. Not that it mattered. It was just another in a long list of minor injuries he was incurring. He was still alive, not like Kai. Never like Kai. And if part of him knew his reflexes were growing ever slower, and that his tired, six-year old body had passed beyond the edge of exhaustion the day before, he wasn't going to acknowledge that part. Acknowledging it meant death and he could still cheat it for as long as Kai's precious soldier pills would support him.

They were in one of the higher caves. The rising sun could be seen peeking over the edge of the Valley of Shadows. Ippei was sleeping, and Kakashi was pretending to, but he couldn't bring himself to relax while the other two members of Ippei's team were standing guard. The one with the metal mask was Tetsu while the one covered in bandages was Karada. Karada's crow summons had found them easily the evening before, and Kakashi had spent an uneasy night under the hidden glares of Ippei's teammates. To Kakashi's surprise, Ippei hadn't revealed Kakashi's hidden skills. Ippei told them he was watching over Kakashi because the 'kid' found one of the medallions they needed, and also because Ippei thought it would be funny if Kakashi ended up in the final round. Strangely, Kakashi thought that truly was the real reason Ippei had teamed up with him a few days ago.

There was a change in the air of the cave, and Kakashi knew that Ippei was awake and subtly scanning the area. The Stone genin was very well trained, and although neither of them had had to use any special jutsu in front of each other, Kakashi thought their fight in the finals was going to be very interesting. He refused to entertain the thought that he wouldn't be at said finals.

"We're not dragging the stray with us today," said Tetsu, having sensed his teammate was awake. For all they were both teenagers, the other two genin deferred to their young teammate with an ease that spoke of habit. Tetsu sounded like he was giving an order, but it would be Ippei's decision.

Ippei stood up, and cast an apologetic glance in Kakashi's direction. Kakashi kept his face blank and eyes wide. He had suspected something like this since last night. "I know. If we want to be the only full team to make it through, we'll need to be on our own." The explanation was for Kakashi's benefit. "We all have both halves of our medallions so we only have to run the gauntlet."

Kakashi tried to look sad, imitating the face of one of his father's nin dogs. He hoped it worked. "Some friend you are." In truth, he didn't know what to make of the other boy. He was the enemy, but he'd also been good company and a good partner for the past few days. Ippei had gotten on his nerves, but not nearly so much as, say, Masuyo.

He had been trying not to think of his other teammate for the past few days. Something of his sensei's lessons must have sunk in since he was having a hard time thinking of Masuyo as an enemy. The method of Kai's death was incriminating, but not conclusively in favor of Masuyo being the perpetrator. And yet it was Masuyo's face Kakashi saw in his few dreams, smirking while his wires round tighter around both Kai and Kakashi.

"I'll be perf-fectly fine on my own," Kakashi spat out, annoyed by the look of sympathy on Ippei's face. Ippei had to know Kakashi was acting, so there was no need to treat Kakakshi like a kid.

"Fine," said Ippei. "We split at the bottom of the cliff. Last one there has to play rearguard!" He jumped over the edge, and it was his teammate's turns to be annoyed as they rushed after him. 'Rearguard' must be the worst spot in their plan to get out of the valley. Kakashi dove over the edge as well, using his chakra to catch the wall and race down it. He only belatedly remembered to slow down and let the others arrive first. Wall walking was a basic skill, but he shouldn't be more proficient than the others. He ignored Ippei's wink when he hit the ground with an awkward roll.

"See-" began Ippei.

"Kakashi!" They turned to see an exhausted and dirty Masuyo racing through the dirt. Kakashi froze then pushed any of the fear he was feeling deep inside. They were in the stone part of the valley. Masuyo stopped at the edge of the clearing and leant against an arch to catch his breath. "You huff brat. What huff have you been doing? huff Didn't occur to you to find your teammates?"

"I did find Kai," said Kakashi. "He was dead."

"We'll leave you guys to it," said Ippei. "See you later, Kakashi." The whole team disappeared, and Kakashi resisted the urge to back up against the cliff wall. He couldn't trust Masuyo.

"I know about Kai," said Masuyo, stopping several feet away from him. Kakashi kept his eyes open for the telltale glint of wires. "You think I did it, don't you?" Masuyo looked miserable. There were streak marks in the grime on his face where he'd wiped at it with his fingers. "I didn't. I heard it from another group who attacked me. I stayed far away from the forest after Kai mentioned it."

"So you were just a coward?" retorted Kakashi. He wanted Masuyo to be the killer. It would make things so much easier. He could take revenge here and now. His hand went into one of his pouches and fingered some of Minato sensei's special jutsu.

"I'm not a coward, you stupid brat!" Masuyo was sweating in the early rays of the sun. "Is it wrong that I wanted to make it through one exam with my teammates surviving? I don't even know why they did it. The first time they died for me ‒ as if it was no big deal." Tears were streaming down Masuyo's dirty cheeks. "The second time, Orochimaru was the proctor. Megane said I was bad luck right before she died. The third time, I stayed away and they still died. I'm not just bad luck, I'm cursed. My team always dies. And now Kai, and you."

"I'm not dying," said Kakashi. "Unless you're going to kill me?" he couldn't help making it a question. He'd never seen a ninja have a breakdown like Masuyo. It made his father's strange grieving two weeks before seem mild. Kakashi's own eyes felt strange as he wondered if Kai had died at the hands of a mad teammate.

"You really think I'd do that?"

Kakashi shrugged. His goal today was getting out of the valley. All other concerns were secondary, even ones that made his eyes sting. He was strong and had the power of a soldier pill coursing through his blood.

Emotions passed across Masuyo's face; there was a flare of anger, followed by despair and sadness. But Kakashi didn't see any guilt. "I don't have a medallion anymore," said Masuyo. He turned slowly to show he was telling the truth. "And neither do you." Kakashi wasn't going to correct him on that fact. "But I want you to get out of here alive and maybe break my curse. I'll do anything and follow your lead." Kakashi kept his face blank while he considered. He really shouldn't trust Masuyo, but he did trust his sensei and if Masuyo were insane or untrustworthy, Minato sensei would have warned his students of that fact. The Shinamoto clan were the only wire specialists in Konoha, but there were plenty in other villages.

Masuyo dropped to his knees and bowed low. He sat up on his heels and looked Kakashi straight in the eye. "I swear on my honor and the Shinamoto clan's honor that I did not kill Hamamoto Kai. Let me be your bodyguard for today. Please." He bowed low again.

Kakashi had lost his mask of indifference in favor of gaping in shock. He hadn't expected Masuyo to go that far. It was embarrassing. "Okay," he said, willing Masuyo to get up. "Just…" _don't betray me_ "make sure you do as I say." They called this part of the exam the gauntlet for a reason. Every person was making their way for the exit today. Some would only be trying to leave. Others would still be desperately searching for their other medallion half. Then there were the ones who would be picking off those leaving out of maliciousness or fun or simply to even their own chances in the finals. The tunnels and giant crack leading out of the valley were probably riddled with traps and ambushes.

Masuyo did stand up. "You need to clean your face," suggested Kakashi. The tear tracks looked stupid up close. Masuyo pulled out an already dirty piece of cloth and did his best. "Thank you," he said. And despite the other genin's exhaustion and earlier mental breakdown, he looked happy. Kakashi was beginning to wonder if adults would ever make sense.

"I want to go out the main crack," said Kakashi. "It's early but that doesn't mean anything. Everyone either makes a run out of the valley now or right before sundown. We'll go at midday."

"What about the traps?"

"We'll be careful," said Kakashi distractedly. His mind was filled with all the possibilities. There were too many variables involved to allow planning ahead in anything more than general terms, but he might be able to pull of something interesting with the addition of Masuyo's skills.

"I think the tunnels would be safer. There's one or two that go straight through," argued Masuyo.

Kakashi shook his head. "I've seen what Stone can do in those tunnels. Slitting our own throats would be faster. They've had five days to prepare them."

"But-" said Masuyo, then cut himself off. "Okay. Sorry. You're in charge."

"Good. Let's go. I'll explain my plan on the way."

* * *

It was another hour and a half before they hit the stone wall that blocked the entrance to the valley. They were both on full alert since the archways and boulders made it impossible to get a full view of their area. Kakashi tensed when he felt someone watching them, but the attention disappeared. He hoped it was because neither of them appeared to have medallions.

No such luck. They were rounding the final boulder blocking the way to the giant crack that split the valley wall in half when two genin appeared. One was standing on the side of the boulder his long red hair hanging sideways. The other was on top of a nearby arch, crouched and ready to pounce.

"Got any medallions?" asked the red head.

"Does it look like we do?" retorted Kakashi, which left Masuyo in the unlikely role of peacekeeper.

"We just want to leave the valley," Masuyo said.

The red head's eyes went an electric blue, and Kakashi took in the Cloud hitaeate tied around the teenager's waist. This wasn't good. "We'd be happy to let you go," the genin said with a smile, "but I'm afraid the toll is a medallion which you don't have." The Cloud genin pointed at Masuyo and lightening leapt from his fingertips. Masuyo shuddered for a moment then turned into a rock. Kawarimi no jutsu. Kakashi was already moving, dashing under the surprised Cloud genin's body. Masuyo should be ahead of him if he had followed orders.

Lightening hit a small arch that Kakashi dove through, sending shards of rock flying. More troublesome was the rhythmic pounding Kakashi could hear behind him. The other genin had a gait that sounded and felt like one of Kakashi's father's larger nin dogs. There was no way Kakashi would be able to outrun him over open ground. Unfortunately, it was open ground from here to the crack.

There had been no rain these past few days so dust flew up in a trail behind him. Kakashi risked a look behind him and saw the other genin. No wonder he had sounded like a dog. His body was morphed into a grotesque cross between a man and a dog, complete with slavering teeth and claws. The red-head appeared close behind him, leaping off of a rock and into the dusty clearing. Kakashi reached into his pouch and pulled out one of his extra medallion pieces. He threw it at the dog-genin. "Fetch!" He sent his other extra piece sailing at the red-head, diving to the side as another bolt of lightening headed his way. He slowed at the entrance to the crack. If Masuyo had abandoned him then the only thing left for him to do was try the new jutsu his father had taught him. The trouble was that he doubted he had enough chakra to manage or hold it.

"We've paid your price. Let us go."

The dog-genin snarled. "These don't even match," said the red-head. "I think we'll string your body up here as a warning to anyone else who tries to leave this way. Pity your teammate abandoned you. I promised Yajyu he could rip someone limb to limb. You're too small to be worth the effort. Guaah!" A kunai had flown out and embedded itself into the red-head's chest. Blood spilled out as the kunai was jerked out, attached to an almost invisible line.

"Good thing I doubled back," said Masuyo. He was braced between the narrow walls of the crack about twenty feet above their heads. "We're good," he called to Kakashi. "Run." He dodged a lightening bolt, leaping higher. "Don't stop until you hit the exit," he called after. Kakashi was already moving, pouring all his energy into hitting a good speed. Yajyu was pounding only a few feet behind him. Half way through he spotted the simple mark on the wall he was looking for. He took a deep breath before diving forward. He twisted in the middle and rolled upon landing, coming up facing his pursuer. Masuyo said not to stop but Kakashi wasn't going to miss the execution of his plan.

Yajyu obviously didn't notice the sign and didn't stop to think why his prey had jumped so inexplicably. Kakashi was standing innocently in the centre of the crack. Yajyu put on a burst of speed.

Kakashi winced as the dog-genin hit the finely woven web of wires and caltrops. Kai's brother Kenji's presents were perfect for a suspended ambush. Their holes and non-burnished finish meant they blended in well while the sharp metal edges on the weapons embedded themselves into the skin and clothes of the victim. Kakashi had had Masuyo leave an opening to dive through if you knew it was there. Since Yajyu had hit at such a high speed, the caltrops ripped him open while the wires bit blood-red lines into his skin. Within seconds, Yajyu was hopelessly tangled and dripping blood while he howled out curses. Every time he struggled the wires cut deeper and the caltrops savaged his body.

An image of Kai, bound to the tree flashed through Kakashi's mind. He shook his head to clear it, feeling dizzy. The soldier pill must be wearing off.

A few seconds later, a loud boom echoed from the valley end of the crack. Kakashi watched for a moment in disbelief as the walls of the crack collapsed inwards before turning and running for the line of sunlight he could see in the distance.

He was expelled into the open air along with a cloud of dust and flying rock. He had no energy left to stop himself so he simply crashed into the ground and lay there, content to let the dust sift down around him.

"Nice entrance," said Ippei's voice from far above him. Kakashi felt like he was floating.

"Can he report?" asked Yami, the proctor of the exam.

It was a lot more effort than he thought it would be, but Kakashi managed to push himself up, first onto his hands and knees and then to his feet. He planted his feet wide in an effort to stop swaying. His body was shivering despite the midday heat.

"Hatake Kakashi of Konohagakure reporting suc-successful completion of the second test, sir."

"I see no medallion, genin."

He reached for one of the many pouches slung about his waist. As soon as it stopped touching his body the fixed genjutsu he'd placed on it disappeared showing a rather dusty medallion of the symbol for monkey. He was glad he didn't have to use any more chakra to maintain the illusion.

"You were to keep it visible."

"'It must be worn in a visible place on your body at all times,'" Kakashi quoted then coughed on a bit of dust. He wished he had his mask. "You never said it had to look like a medallion."

Yami must have been staring at him but since he wore a mask, it was impossible to tell. "It is sometimes required of a ninja to follow a different path to accomplish their goal," he said finally. "Very well. You pass. Sign here and go see the medic." A scroll with the names of the other winners was thrust in front of him. There were six names above him. He shakily signed his name, then detoured over to Ippei. "Tell me if Masuyo comes through," he ordered the other boy. He was too tired to respond to the pitying look Ippei gave him. He trudged over to the medic, who was busy healing a nasty gash across a girl's abdomen. There were about twice as many genin here as there were names of successful genin on the list. He couldn't see anyone else from Konoha.

Kakashi waited patiently for the medic's attention. He felt like it wasn't over. That it would never be over. It was something of a relief when his vision went blurry then faded out entirely while the rest of his body collapsed.

* * *

He woke up right after sundown judging by the twilight. The medic had put him under a tarp for shade so it was dark. He sat up and when that didn't bother him, stood up. His hands were still trembling and he felt a bit shakey, but it was nothing compared to how horrible he had felt before.

"Kakashi-chan!" Yoshino pulled him into a hug then held him at arm's length, anxiously inspecting every inch of his body for damage. "You're truly all right? The healer said we had to let you rest."

"I'm," he said. His voice was a croak. Yoshino immediately thrust her water gourd at him and he took a few swallows before trying again. "I'm fine. Who else?"

She grimaced. "Arata-kun's here. He lost an eye, and no medallion. Ume-san made it out right before the end. She's in the finals. I never even found my other half! I haven't seen Kai-kun or Masuyo-san but even though the deadline is past they can still make it out. Just not be in the finals. I can't believe you're in the finals too." She didn't seem to notice his annoyed glare.

"Kai is dead," he said flatly. "I don't know about Masuyo."

"What?"

Kakashi was going to refuse to explain, but Yami's calm voice rang out over the gathered genin. Out of the fifty or so genin who had gone in, a little over half had made it back out of the Valley of Shadows. "Those of you who are advancing to the finals, you may go through the gates once your name is called. The rest may follow after they are through. Participants, who are still alive and in the valley, will be located and returned shortly unless they are in need of healing. The full list of the dead and disqualified will be made available as soon as everyone is accounted for." He paused and waited for questions that never came. Everyone was tired. "Bara Goro, you may go through. Donbo Hakaze, you may go through. Kourizatou Ippei…"

He quickly reached Kakashi's name. Kakashi shook off Yoshino's hand from his shoulder and headed for the seal-covered gates. They swung open at his approach.

Minato sensei was slightly to the left of the gate, joking with a sour-faced Sand jounin, but he broke it off when he caught sight of Kakashi. Kakashi blinked and suddenly he was being held in strong arms. "You're safe," came the soft whisper in his ear, and then he was thrust up in the air as sensei spun around laughing and congratulating him. It sounded very fake to Kakashi's ears, but the second hug was real, as was the whispered, "I'm sorry". Something inside him relaxed and for the first time in his life, Kakashi hugged his sensei back.

* * *

Next chapter: The month before the finals. Kakashi trains and Minato spies, or maybe vice versa.

I finished writing my book and I'm in the middle of editing it, plus I have a masters dissertation to work on so the chances of my having free time to update until at least autumn are slim, and even then I'm overdue new chapters on a few other fics, so, expect a new chapter when you see it.


	11. Chapter 11: Friendship

A/N: I've been on a Naruto kick (especially since they're finally animating Kakashi Gaiden), which means you guys get a new chapter. I really shouldn't have written this one before I wrote a new chapter of my Uric fic, but somehow, I suspect you guys don't mind. Thanks to my beta, infiniteviking and to all my reviewers.

I try to keep my Japanese in this story limited to name honorifics and titles, but I did end up using 'baka' (idiot) in this chapter as an insult (for those of you who don't know what it means). And of course, a lot of my original character names are (mostly obvious) jokes in Japanese. So it goes.

* * *

Kakashi wanted to spend the day after the second part of the exam training, but the medics and Minato-sensei forbid it. He lay on his futon in the now empty room he had shared with his team. Everything inside felt dull. Sensei had told the remaining Leaf genin about Saburou-san's death right after the exam, and Masuyo's had been confirmed a few hours after that. Yoshino and Arata had cried, while Ume had angrily demanded details Minato-sensei didn't have. Kakashi, no matter how hard he tried, couldn't seem to keep even a fake smile on his face. Any facial expression at all seemed too much effort, and he was sure that his inability to follow the mission parameters was the real reason Minato-sensei had told him to take the day off.

Sensei had slipped into his room early this morning and handed him the final book of the Daruma trilogy. It was one of Kakashi's favorite series, and the book wasn't supposed to be out on the shelves for another month. Kakashi had no idea how sensei had gotten it. Unfortunately, since the book was about a group of friends fighting to defeat an evil god, he reached the death of the hero's best friend and had to close the book. Life shouldn't be allowed to bear so many similarities to fiction.

Kakashi lay on his futon, staring at the wooden ceiling. He wasn't in the mood to deal with people, but now that he wasn't in a life or death situation, there was far too much time to analyze his teammates' deaths, and Kakashi's own performance. There was nothing he could have done for Kai, but Masuyo? He couldn't understand why a man who had disliked him so much had given his life for him.

No. That wasn't true. Losing your teammates hurt. Kakashi knew that now. Maybe losing so many had injured Masuyo to a point of no return? A sort of mental injury. Those happened sometimes, he thought, though usually it was to older ninja, especially those who had been captured or tortured. He would have to ask Minato-sensei.

There was a gentle tap on the frame of the door. Kakashi called for whoever it was to come in. The door slid open. He was surprised to see Ume. Her bright orange hair was covered in a handkerchief, and she had a long, cloth covered package in her hands. Kakashi sat up and she knelt next to his futon, laying the package in front of her. There was a stiffness in her posture that hadn't been there before the exam.

"The smith sent us a note saying that Kai's package was ready. It's for his sister and brother, right? I thought maybe they'd want it."

Kakashi nodded. "I think they will." He would go and buy more caltrops for Kenji, so that at least Kai's last presents would go to his siblings. It was more than most ninja left behind. The thought struck like a blow. He stared down at his lap. His hands were shaking, so he pressed them hard against the futon.

Ume-san laid a hand over his. It was rough with calluses from weapon's training, but comforting all the same. She held it there for only a few seconds, then squeezed and let go. "I keep telling Yoshino-baka not to baby you, so don't take this wrong, but you need to take a bath 'cause you stink. And if you don't eat something at dinner, I'll make sure Yoshino sits next to you."

Kakashi couldn't tell if she was teasing or not. She was right about him stinking though.

"I'll take a bath," he promised, though he wasn't sure about the food. He had a feeling it would just come back up again. A thought occurred to him. "What are you doing for training?" Saburou-san would have been her teacher for the next month if he hadn't been killed. If Minato-sensei couldn't train Kakashi because of his mission, then he certainly couldn't train Ume-san.

She patted a scroll that was tied to her belt. "When I woke up this morning, there was a scroll filled with new techniques for me to learn. The fire ones should work really well since that's my element. I figured he'd spend all his time training you, so it was nice of him to leave the scroll."

Kakashi didn't correct her assumption that he was being trained. "You need to perform well since you're representing Konoha. Sensei knows that."

She seemed to take that as a challenge. "I'll perform well! Right on your ass! Don't think I'll go easy on you when we have to fight." Anger made the scar across her neck stand out in a red line.

"You mean 'if'," retorted Kakashi, somewhat relieved that Ume-san was back to her confrontational self.

"The only 'if' will be if you get knocked out in your first fight." She abruptly stood up and stalked toward the door. He heard her say, "I'm twice his age, dammit!" before slamming the door shut.

Kakashi smirked at that, but it faded quickly when he realized how similar the argument had been to his fights with Masuyo. Sober again, he gathered his things and went to take a bath.

* * *

Minato had been stressed by missions before, but now thought they were nothing compared to the ongoing burden of his current assignment. He had a comrade and two students dead. A conspiracy of the highest degree involving Stone and Rain that was most likely aimed at Konoha. A cheerful and oblivious persona to maintain when he'd rather be serious. Two sannin as subordinates who hadn't bothered to report in since the end of the second part of the exam a week before. Kakashi, who needed training (which he couldn't give) and comfort (which Kakashi wouldn't accept), and another three genin who needed varying levels of help and supervision. In particular, Arata-kun wasn't dealing well with the loss of his eye.

It was a mess.

The only things he seemed to have accomplished were largely intangible. He'd planted the makings of his jutsu everywhere but some of the forbidden areas. Ume-san was making good progress training from the scroll he'd hastily written up for her. The villagers were all fond of him, and he was friendly with a number of Stone nin. So where were the Rain jounin and chuunin hiding? And just why was the son of the Tsuchikage stalking him while he shopped?

"Mister Leaf-jounin," said the kid, approaching him as he browsed a stall of spices. Minato couldn't sense the kid's team mates anywhere. It was the first time he'd seen him without them. He guessed that even the Tsuchikage's son's safety took second place to training for the finals.

"Hi," Minato said, keeping his face open and relaxed. "Can I help you with something? You need me to reach those peppers?" He pointed at a bunch of dried peppers that hung from the top of the stall, and smirked inwardly as he caught a flash of annoyance on the kid's face before it was wiped away.

"You're Kakashi-chan's sensei, right?" The kid's attempt at an innocent face needed work. "Could you ask him if he'd like to come and play?"

"What?" Minato didn't have to pretend to be surprised.

The kid shrugged. "I have a private training ground and so long as we don't show each other our special techniques, we should be able to train together. My father believes you should be able to defeat someone regardless of how well they know you, so he doesn't care."

"Isn't someone training you personally?" Minato asked. He was torn by the kid's offer. On one hand, it would be dangerous for Kakashi and might disrupt his training. On the other, Kakashi could plant Minato's jutsu at the Tsuchikage's personal training ground, and probably his home as well. It might also push Kakashi out of his shell of grief to be forced to interact with someone.

"He's busy," said the kid, "And I don't need any extra help." The arrogance looked adorable on his freckled face.

Minato was astonished that the Tsuchikage's son wasn't receiving any personal prep for the finals. The astonishment was quickly replaced with the suspicion that the kid's teacher was involved in the Stone/Rain conspiracy. Perhaps if he knew that jounin's speciality it would provide a clue. Hopefully, Kakashi would be up to the challenge.

"You guys didn't fight during the exam or something?" he asked, pretending to be suspicious. "What if you're planning some nefarious revenge?" Never one to skip a mission report, Kakashi had briefed him on the events of the exam the day after the second exam finished. His student had been so professional and detached, Minato's heart had ached for him.

The kid looked disgusted. "We teamed up for most of the second exam. Didn't he tell you?" Minato was examined from head to foot. He pretended to be distracted by the spices and did his best to seem open and oblivious. "Maybe he's hiding his skills from you too," muttered the kid before speaking up. "Just tell him Ippei wants to train. I'll meet him in front of your inn tomorrow morning." Apparently, Kakashi's acceptance was a given.

"I'll let him know," said Minato cheerfully, then wagged a finger in front of the kid's face. "But you better not be tricking me."

Ippei rolled his eyes. "I'm not." He left, his long braid smacking Minato on the chest as he turned to go. "Not that it would be hard," Ippei said under his breath as he walked away. Minato grinned to himself. After Kakashi, winding up other children was child's play.

* * *

Ippei was leaning against the inn's doorway when Kakashi left the inn. The sun was bright that morning, so the older boy was wearing a pointed straw hat to combat the glare. Squinting in the sunlight, Kakashi half wished he had his own.

"Yo," said Ippei.

"Hello," said Kakashi. He was confused as to why Ippei had sought him out.

"Follow me," said Ippei before Kakashi could ask him. The older boy raced off, but not at a speed where Kakashi had to exert himself to follow. They went through town, then into what Kakashi knew was a forbidden area. Forbidden only if you weren't with the Tsuchikage's son though (Kakashi was still upset he hadn't realized Ippei's identity) since the Stone chuunin guarding the area simply watched them pass. They headed uphill. A few more turns and they were in front of a large gate with a smaller, open door. A bored Stone genin with wild green hair was manning the door, and he blinked in surprise when he saw Kakashi, or rather, Kakashi's Konoha hitaeate.

"This is your guest?" he asked, consulting a scroll of paper. "Hatake Kakashi? Hatake… Hatake. Oh! The White Fang's son."

"Yes, and you're nobody," said Ippei impatiently. "Would you let us in already, Yakumi?"

"Somehow I doubt this is what the Tsuchikage meant when he said you could pick out your new training partner," said Yakumi, but he let them both in.

Inside, the compound reminded Kakashi of the bigger clan's areas in Konoha. He had been inside the Hyuuga compound once and it was similar, though the Tsuchikage had less space since the main house was perched on the side of the mountain. Long, porch supporting beams were visible under the stairs. They probably kept the house level. Kakashi tossed one of his sensei's jutsu behind the beams as he followed Ippei up the steps. Instead of going inside, they followed the outside porch around the corner of the house. Behind the house and off to the left was a clearing made of dirt with a few battered looking boulders scattered about.

"We can train here," said Ippei, and jumped to the ground. A cloud of dust drifted towards Kakashi. He had a feeling he was going to be wishing for his mask soon. Though maybe if Stone's arena was dusty, Minato-sensei would let him wear his mask for the finals.

"You invited me here to annoy your father?" asked Kakashi once he'd joined Ippei near one of the boulders. It wasn't something he had ever done himself, but Kai's brother, Kenchi, was apparently dating an Inuzuka girl just because their father was allergic to dogs. He frowned, annoyed that such an innocuous thought about Kai brought up pain. The image of Kai bound to that tree was never going to go away.

"It's more like a bonus. It is annoying that he took away Sekiei-sensei, but I was going to invite you to join me one way or another."

"Why?" asked Kakashi. Ippei's answer would decide if he would stay or go now. Technically, he had fulfilled sensei's mission by planting some jutsu and discovering Ippei's sensei's name so there was no reason to stick around.

"Why? We've got a lot in common. I'm only a year older than you. We're both prodigies who are stuck in the shadow of their famous father. We work well together, and we're both hiding our true skill levels." Ippei was sketching a circle in the dust with his foot, not meeting Kakashi's eye. "You treated me like an equal during the exam. I appreciated that."

"I didn't know who you were," said Kakashi.

Ippei shrugged, glancing up at Kakashi before looking down again. "My team mates are there to guard me, even if they follow my orders. They at least fight with me when I order it. All the other genin treat me like glass. You wouldn't do that. You're not doing it now, even though you know who I am."

Kakashi frowned. That was simply because politeness wasn't Kakashi's strong point.

"Anyway," said Ippei. He lowered his voice so Kakashi had to lean in to hear. "I thought we could be friends."

"Our villages are not on good terms," Kakashi pointed out, though part of him was flattered. He had never had someone ask to be his friend before.

"We're ninja," said Ippei scornfully. "Friendships and all other emotions are put aside on the battlefield. If I face you in the exam or on a mission, we're going to fight with everything we've got, but we're not on a mission or a battlefield so friendship is okay."

Ippei might not be on a mission, but Kakashi was in the middle of one – a mission that would be better served by Kakashi getting close to the Tsuchikage's son. "Okay," Kakashi said. "Friends until the exam is over." If they were still friends then, and their villages weren't at war, maybe they could continue the friendship. Minato-sensei would certainly encourage him to do so. He had always nagged him to spend more time with Kai, and now Kakashi wished he had.

"Just until then, huh?" asked Ippei, but the relief was evident in his voice. "I'd call you over-cautious, but I've seen you take down a three man team in under a minute." The sing-song quality of his tone told Kakashi that he was probably teasing.

He decided to tease back. "Since I haven't seen you do anything," said Kakashi in a deliberately thoughtful voice, "I'd have to call you slow."

Ippei snorted. "I'll show you slow. We spar until noon. Don't use any tricks you want to save for the exam. Mom's made us lunch. Afterwards, I happen to know where most of the other finalists are training. We can go spy on them, if you want?"

That sounded surprisingly good to Kakashi. He had expected more of the arrogance Ippei had shown during the second part of the exam, but maybe friendship really did make a difference.

"Sounds good," he said, and threw the first punch at his friend.

* * *

After shooing Kakashi outside to meet the Tsuchikage's son, and teaching Yoshino and Arata a card game to help them pass the time, Minato gathered up his bathing gear and strolled down the street to the local hot springs. He would have preferred to do this in his room, but the maids were always in and out cleaning. It was more traditional for people to bathe in the evenings, so with luck he would have the springs to himself. He paid the small fee, undressed and stuffed his things in a cubby hole. He debated setting a trap for anyone who tampered with them and reluctantly decided it was against his cover. Luckily, the men's side of the springs was empty, though he could hear two old ladies exchanging news over on the women's side.

He settled into the main pool, claiming one of the better rocks that faced the entrance to support his back. His hand towel was placed at the side of the pool. After a thorough survey of the room for spy holes and other surveillance, he reached into the towel and pulled out the flyer he had received this morning. It was in the form of a book preview that had been handed out to all the male guests at the request of the author. Minato would have thrown it out if he hadn't recognized his sensei's handiwork in the author's chosen alias.

He settled in to read, intending to just pick out the code words. Encryption was one of Jiraiya's hidden talents, but thankfully Minato was familiar enough with sensei's style to be able to pick out a code without them having to agree on it beforehand. There were no secrets in the book description so he turned to the book excerpt on the back of the flyer. He read a few sentences, then read a few more before realizing he was blushing for the first time in years. He stifled a laugh.

Jiraiya had sent him one of the most explicit sex scenes he had ever read. Not only that, but it was excellent in both quality and style – it certainly wasn't just the hot spring that was making Minato feel overheated. He couldn't help reading it over once for pleasure before settling in to try to figure out the code. It took three rereads before it became apparent. He pieced it together in his head, and any enjoyment of sensei's unexpected skill at writing coded pornography disappeared.

_Rain have killed and replaced the Earth daimyo, most of his retinue and so__me minor lords. Awaiting orders. Good luck._

_

* * *

  
_

A/N: Hot springs are such a nice excuse to get someone naked, don't you think? *whistles innocently*

Next time: I'm going to skip a week or two so, the final days before the final.

Thank you all for reading. Reviews and opinions are always appreciated.


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